Care facilities shouldn’t be immune to virus lawsuits
While nursing home residents and staff are dying, Arizona’s state legislators want to shield the industry from COVID-19 related lawsuits if residents are harmed, neglected, or even abused.
More than 2,200 residents and staff of Arizona’s nursing homes, assisted living and other long-term care facilities have died of COVID-19. Frighteningly, the true number is likely higher because our state leaders have failed to release an accurate accounting of nursing home cases and deaths Across the U.S., the nursing home death toll is more than 153,000 and rising — a national disgrace.
The numbers are shocking, and the stories behind them are gut-wrenching.
Take William, for instance, who relayed his experience to us at AARP.
Having survived COVID19, the 62year-old was discharged from a metro Phoenix hospital into a rehabilitation facility. The facility tried to put a COVID-positive patient with him despite the fact he had just recovered from the virus. At times William was too weak to communicate, and the facility missed giving his medications. They tried to give him a (potentially fatal) insulin shot although he is not diabetic.
The facility was very resistant to tell William’s wife and his sister much; they could only reach the receptionist and the in-charge nurse. William said that, after finally being released from rehab, some of the nurses didn’t even have gloves or masks on, and didn’t change their personal protective equipment when they came in.
His story is not unlike others we have been hearing.
Now, Arizona state legislators, in Senate Bill 1377 “Civil Liability; Public Health Pandemic” propose giving nursing home, assisted living and other long-term care companies more protection from liability related to COVID-19 — a move that would strip away important rights of residents and their families.
Fewer eyes are observing what is happening in facilities. State and federal officials have limited most nursing home inspections, along with in-person visits by family members and formal advocates, called Long-Term Care Ombudsmen. The lack of oversight is alarming and requires Arizona to ensure that, when all else fails, residents and their families still have access to the courts to seek redress.
A recent Government Accountability Office report found more than 80% of nursing homes were cited for infection prevention failures before the pandemic. It is outrageous that the majority of the nation’s nursing homes weren’t following basic infection control procedures — such as washing hands in between patients — as a matter of course. Poor infection control in facilities filled with residents who have chronic conditions and compromised immune systems is a recipe for disaster.
Nursing homes and other long-term care facilities should be held responsible for providing the level of quality of care that is required of them, and for which they are being compensated. And, they must remain responsible when their wrongdoing threatens the health and lives of their residents and staff. Litigation is an option of last resort, and no family member who has lost a loved one due to neglect or abuse pursues this course of action lightly.
Our leaders must not take away the rights of residents and their families to hold nursing facilities accountable. They also must fight to protect nursing home residents and staff by:
● Ensuring regular, ongoing testing and adequate personal protective equipment (PPE).
● Creating transparency focused on daily, public reporting of cases and deaths in facilities, communication with families when loved ones are discharged or transferred, and accountability for how billions of dollars in federal funding is being spent.
● Requiring access to facilitated virtual visitation, even when in-person visits resume.
● Providing better care for residents through adequate staffing, oversight, and access to long-term care ombudsmen.
Gov. Doug Ducey and Arizona’s state legislators must step up now to protect our seniors and the people who care for them. Now is not the time to let nursing homes off the hook for abuse, neglect and even death.