Investigate the perilous condition of nursing facilities

Private equity has put health care in an unholy mess. In his March 1 op-ed, “Steward Health Care should face a full-scale criminal investigation,” Robert Kuttner advocates for federal and state agencies to take a close look at Steward to see which laws might have been broken. However, Steward is only a big recent example of the corporate ability throughout the health care industry to loot enterprises and exact profits (and amass more than six-figure salaries).

Who is spotlighting nursing facilities that also place profits over people? In Massachusetts our vulnerable residents died in disproportionate numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic. About two-thirds of facilities in the state are for-profit, but nonprofits can also be questionable. Closures terrify residents and create stress for their families, and they can be a signal of deeper financial concerns or even malfeasance. Four facilities closed last year in the western part of the state without the Department of Public Health putting any legal delays in their way. In Roxbury the once-renowned Benjamin Healthcare Center has announced that it will close, sending its residents who knows where, after how long a wait. Meanwhile, its CEO, Tony Francis, took home a base salary of $628,592 in 2021.

To the governor, attorney general, health and human services secretary, and public health commissioner, I say: Fix these grievous situations before the damage to our elders occurs. Audit, survey, respond to complaints; put the worst cases into receivership if necessary. Lawmakers, take action on reform bills in front of you. Time is short. We are all waiting for age justice.

MARGARET MORGANROTH GULLETTE

Newton

The writer is the author of “Ending Ageism, or How Not to Shoot Old People.”