Impacting care through government and beyond
"We must work together proactively and collaboratively to make nursing homes safe."
Molly Flowers, BS, ADN, RN
We
subject our elderly, vulnerable populations to nursing home conditions that in some cases, are deplorable and reprehensible. Why do we tolerate substandard care! Personal observations of such led me to take action; sharing my concerns widely, beginning at the state level and then beyond: my state Department of Aging and Disability Services, County Commissioners, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and members of Congress.
Specifically, I met with the local Office of Inspector General to report Medicaid fraud, waste, and abuse in the form of care reimbursed, but not given. I filed a complaint with the ACLU for a violation of the Older Americans Act of 1965, Title 1, Sect 101. by local nursing homes. I sent a packet of reviews and complaints to each of the County's four Commissioners and Commissioners’ Court Judge, requesting a resolution including the recommendation of a citizen’s task force. We must work together proactively and collaboratively to make nursing homes safe and end substandard care.
