For the third straight report card, nursing home quality in Texas continues to be the worst in the nation, reports Families for Better Care, a national nursing home resident advocacy group based in Austin. The group published its third state-by-state nursing home report card by analyzing eight federal measures to gauge nursing home quality.
Texas nursing home care continues to be an utter disaster as the state failed to score even one above average grade in any quality measure; failing five of eight overall.
Texas nursing home operators should be downright embarrassed by the state’s ongoing nursing home quality futility.
“Texas nursing home operators should be downright embarrassed by the state’s ongoing nursing home quality futility,” said Brian Lee, the group’s executive director. “It’s bad enough that Texas ranks 51st in nursing home care, again, for the third consecutive report card, but what's so much worse is the fact that seemingly no one is prioritizing the safety and protection of the residents.”
According to the report card, fewer than 10 percent of Texas nursing homes staffed at above average professional nursing levels while almost 90 percent hired at or below the minimum number of caregivers required to meet the residents’ needs.
“While the Lone Star state did improve staffing levels by a meager four minutes of care per resident daily, this so-called increase did nothing to turn the state’s awful nursing home record around in any meaningful way,” said Lee.
Texas’s nursing home report card also revealed another alarming fact, that the percentage of nursing homes with severe deficiencies continues to swell, with 1 in 5 Texas nursing homes now being cited for the abuse, neglect and mistreatment of residents—the highest rate for the state in any report card.
The best thing Governor Abbott and the Texas Legislature can do to improve the state’s nursing home quality ranking is by legislating a definitive state staffing standard that boosts direct resident care and then by allocating the funds necessary to pay for the staffing mandate.
“There is no reason that Texas should continue to be the nation’s laughingstock in nursing home quality,” Lee stated. “The best thing Governor Abbott and the Texas Legislature can do to improve the state’s nursing home quality ranking is by legislating a definitive state staffing standard that boosts direct resident care and then by allocating the funds necessary to pay for the staffing mandate—Texas owes its elderly residents that much.”
Texas’s 2019 Nursing Home Report Card is available for download at http://www.nursinghomereportcards.com.
ABOUT FAMILIES FOR BETTER CARE
Families for Better Care, Inc. is a non-profit citizen advocacy group dedicated to creating public awareness of the conditions in our nation’s nursing homes and developing solutions for improving quality of life and care. For more information, visit http://familiesforbettercare.com.
