Assisted living homes have a reputation for poor-quality care and many who are in the process of placing a loved one in a personal care facility are desperate to find a safe place.
How do you choose the right facility and the best possible care for your loved one?
Many issues, such as reports of abuse, fire safety hazards, missing dementia patients, and infestations, are nearly invisible. Lackluster accountability and transparency mean any reports of abuse or neglect are difficult to find.
Not even state and local officials know about many of the serious incidents that occur in long-term care facilities. Senior care homes regularly fail to report critical issues. Issues that should be sent to the police and local prosecutors never see the light of day.
Reviews and personal recommendations don’t seem to mean much. You can’t help but wonder: Will they be safe? Will they take care of your loved one?
Fortunately, the AJC has developed a new consumer database with detailed information about Georgia’s assisted living facilities and nursing homes.
The newspaper’s investigations have found that 20% of long-term care homes had a history of significant violations. Others had troubling but isolated incidents.
The Department of Community Health (DCH) inspects facilities every 16 months but the process used to confirm and put the information up online for consumers is lengthy. The information that is available for homes is full of technical, confusing language and is usually out-of-date or missing key issues.
Compounding the problem is the lack of timeline required for investigations into serious allegations. Georgia also does not require allegations made against a home to be disclosed, even if they are not substantiated.
About 30% of homes fail to report incidents. Law enforcement agencies may also fail to notify facility regulators.
Nursing Home Resources
You can review the list of local long-term care facilities and recorded incidents at the DCH’s website GaMap2Care. If you or your loved one have a complaint about their care or the facility, contact your local community ombudsman to advocate or intervene on your behalf.
- GaMap2Care: http://gamap2care.info/Home.html
- Georgia’s Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program: https://www.georgiaombudsman.org/
Hiring a Legal Advocate for Your Loved One
Don’t let nursing homes and assisted living facilities get away with elder abuse and neglect. Hiring an attorney helps ensure those businesses are held accountable, especially if they did not report the abuse or tried to cover up any wrongdoing by an employee.
Our Georgia nursing home abuse attorneys know the law and can work fast to get your case and the investigation moving. Your loved one deserves justice for their mistreatment.
Call (770) 934-8000 today or contact us online for a free case evaluation today.
FURTHER READING:
Nursing Home Neglect: Failure to Provide Medical Care
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