D.C. Government Fails to Implement Quality Assurances for Long-Term Care Residents
By: Source: AARP Foundation Date Posted: 2003-11-14
Download full report:
Broken Promises II: An Assessment of the District of Columbia’s Initiatives to Improve Quality of Care in Nursing Facilities, 2003-2005
For historical reference:
Broken Promises: An Interim Assessment of the District of Columbia’s Initiatives to Improve Quality of Care in Nursing Facilities, 2002-2003
In 2001, at the urging of the D.C. Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program and AARP’s D.C. Office, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton requested the Special Investigations Division of the Committee on Government Reform of the U.S. House of Representatives to prepare a report on nursing home care in the District of Columbia. The Ombudsman Program, other advocacy groups, and the AARP members were concerned about the quality of care in the District’s nursing homes, the lack of enforcement of federal regulations, the lax investigation of Ombudsman Program complaints by the Health Regulation Administration of the D.C. Department of Health, and the failure of the Department of Health to issue the D.C. nursing home regulations that had been in development, with the input of advocates and providers, since 1999.
A draft of the Congressional Report, Nursing Home Conditions in the District of Columbia: Many Homes Fail to Meet Federal Standards for Adequate Care, was issued November 26, 2001, and provided to the Mayor and the D.C. Department of Health prior to its release to enable the District government to prepare a response. That response was presented at a press conference held on January 7, 2002, at which Congresswoman Norton officially released the report.
As part of their response to the Congressional report, Mayor Williams and representatives of the Department of Health announced that the long-delayed nursing home regulations would finally be issued. In referring to the District’s status as the only jurisdiction in the country without regulations, Mayor Williams stated: "This has got to be unacceptable to me, because it is certainly unacceptable to families of seniors." The Mayor went on to declare: "It’s a sin and a crime not to have regulations."
Disclaimer
AARP does not warrant or assume any legal responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information disclosed within the recently released report: Broken Promises: An Interim Assessment of the District of Columbia’s Initiatives to Improve Quality of Care in Nursing Facilities. Although this is not a survey using all recognized scientific methodologies, it does contain an accurate reflection of quality of care in DC nursing homes as reflected by DC government survey data.
This report was released by the DC Long-Term Care Ombudsman program, a program that advocates on behalf of DC residents in nursing homes and other caregiving facilities. For more information about the Ombudsman program, questions about this report or to request a hard copy, please call 202-434-2100.
Other Resources
- Broken Promises II: An Assessment of the District of Columbia’s Initiatives to Improve Quality of Care in Nursing Facilities, 2003-2005
- Broken Promises: An Interim Assessment of the District of Columbia ’ s Initiatives to Improve Quality of Care in Nursing Facilities
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