Indiana Ranks 37th for Nursing Home Care

There were more than 5,180 reports filed for inadequate nursing home care in the state of Indiana in just the last year!

Sound high? That’s because it absolutely is!

Recent stats with Medicare.gov conclude that the state of Indiana had some of the worst offenders for serious healthcare deficiencies against senior citizens in the nation.

According to ABC 57’s look into South Bend nursing homes, there were dozens of pages of offenses that were noted at the Cardinal Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. In Milton Homes, just right down the road, one of the home’s patients was sexually abused. And a complaint at the same facility alleged a patient didn’t get her meds for more than 10 days. Reporters tried to contact the homes to get their excuses for the inexcusable mishaps, but the homes’ staff was “gone for the day.”Our Highland nursing home abuse attorneys understand that the reports of neglect and abuse in homes across the country have been on the rise in recent years. Homes are trying to take care of more and more patients and aren’t increasing the size of their staff. Not only are they working with a skeleton staff, but many times these staff members aren’t properly trained or are otherwise under-qualified. The state of Indiana comes in 37th in terms of the average quality of care in nursing homes.

Here’s how it all breaks down:

-There are close to 510 nursing homes in the state of Indiana that are certified for Medicaid and Medicare care.

-There are less than 49,320 available beds in these nursing homes.

-At any given moment in time, about 80 percent of these beds are occupied. While this number fluctuates, it doesn’t move by much.

-Only about 15 percent of these homes carry a 5-star rating.

-About a quarter of these homes have a 4-star rating.

-About 20 percent of them come with a 3-star rating.

-Another 20 percent are only ranked with 2 stars.

-Close to 15 percent only have a 1-star rating.

-Believe it or not, 2 percent of our state’s homes have a 0-star rating!

-About 57 percent of Indiana’s nursing homes are owned by not-for-profit organizations.

-Only 2 percent of our state’s nursing homes are operated within a hospital. Most of them (more than 85 percent) don’t offer continuing care.

Before choosing a nursing home for your elderly loved one, we urge you to visit the Indiana Government website. Here you will be able to thumb through Report Cards for all of the nursing homes in the state. This is a system that was created by the Indiana State Department of Health in partnership with the Indiana Association of Homes and Services for the Aging as well as the Indiana Health Care Association.

These report cards are updated every 14 days. Families are urged to check out these report cards and to visit each nursing home in question before making a final decision. Consider cost, consider location, consider staffing and consider these report cards when choosing a home for your elderly loved one.

If you or a loved one has been abused or neglecting in an Indiana nursing home, contact Highland Injury Lawyer Burton A. Padove for a free and confidential consultation to discuss your rights. Call 219-836-2200.

Additional Resources:

Sexual abuse, neglect and mice droppings at South Bend nursing homes, by Daryl Bjoraas, ABC 57