Many nursing homes have hired Certified Nurse Aides with criminal histories legally. Using data from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, it has been discovered that the patient abuse rate in Texas nursing homes is nearly four times the national average.
25% of the state’s 1,200 long-term care centers have been cited for serious standard deficiencies- According to reports by the AARP
In Texas, there are many nurse aides in nursing facilities that have criminal history including serious and violent criminal pasts such as continuous sexual assault of a child, injury to the elderly, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and robbery.
Many nursing homes have settled negligent care claims for subpar services at a Texas nursing home and rehabilitation facility. Whistle-blowers in the industry have witnessed patient abuse and neglect, including failure to bathe patients and change their clothes, patients not being taken to the bathroom and patients not being properly diagnosed and treated when they had infections. Many have alleged that nursing home executives changed grievance reports to cover up mistreatment and hid other reports of patient complaints. In a news report U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General said in a statement in a recent news stor. “We will continue to hold nursing homes accountable to give residents the quality health services, and living conditions, taxpayers pay them to provide.”
In latest news it has been reported that thirty-three nursing homes affiliated with Preferred Care Group, one of the largest U.S. nursing home chains, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to multi-million dollar personal injury lawsuits. For now, Six states — Illinois, Maryland, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Washington — allow the use of video monitoring in nursing homes to catch culprits performing abuse.
Though Texas has many laws that address nursing home care, the state also has a history of trouble doing right by its elderly citizens. In recent reports, in January, the AARP released a report titled “Intolerable Care,” which paints DADS as a toothless regulatory system that allows bad actors to get away with hurting clients. In their report the AARP calls for DADS “to protect older persons and others in nursing homes, and to preserve Texas’ reputation as a hospitable and safe place for vulnerable citizens, it is crucial that state policymakers adopt the common-sense reforms outlined in this report.”