![Connecticut Department of Public Health Receives 0K to Address Concerns in Nursing Homes and Hospitals Connecticut Department of Public Health Receives 0K to Address Concerns in Nursing Homes and Hospitals](https://i0.wp.com/ctmirror-images.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/2024_0328_SR_ProspectPressConference_003-scaled.jpeg?w=1200&resize=1200,0&ssl=1)
The Connecticut Department of Public Health will receive $700,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funding to help clear a backlog of unaddressed complaints from nursing home residents and their families.
Lawmakers set aside the funding in a budget stabilization bill passed during the final week of the legislative session. The Connecticut Mirror reported in April that the health department had a backlog of 2,400 complaints from nursing home residents and their loved ones, and another 1,300 complaints related to hospital incidents, some dating back five years.
The funds were designated for nursing home survey teams.
And even as the department is trying to catch up on complaint inspections, Dr. Manisha Juthani, the state’s public health commissioner, said DPH receives about 75 new complaints from nursing homes each month.
Department spokesman Chris Boyle said this week that officials are weighing how to use the ARPA funds. “DPH is currently reviewing the proposal to evaluate if and how we could use it to increase surveyors’ weekly work hours,” he said.
(Backlog of complaints at CT nursing homes and hospitals lasts for years)
The health department currently has 46 nursing home inspectors, including trainees, all of whom work 35 hours a week, Boyle said.
One option would be to allow those employees to work 40 hours a week on a voluntary basis.
“We think some surveyors will be interested in spending 35 to 40 hours a week,” Boyle said. “The change of employees from 35 to 40 hours per week is subject to a collective bargaining agreement that covers these employees and requires that such changes be made on a voluntary basis.”
“Over the past two years, DPH has (also) brought in retired temporary workers to assist with survey work,” he added.
The unaddressed complaints date back to 2019, Boyle said.
At the height of the pandemic, survey and complaint inspections were suspended while health officials conducted infection control visits. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services “halted our investigations for all but the most serious complaints in early 2020, meaning we had some 2019 complaints on the books when the pandemic hit,” Boyle said.
As the department deals with the backlog, inspectors are quickly handling “immediate hazards” and “high priority events,” while complaints that are considered “medium” or “low” priority may take longer to resolve. resolve. Immediate jeopardy cases (findings that violations in a nursing home caused or were likely to cause harm or death to residents) are responded to within three business days. For high-priority events, the state must initiate an on-site survey within 18 business days, and for medium-priority incidents, within 45 calendar days. Low priority events are typically addressed during the facility’s next routine inspection.
A high-priority event could be a door falling off its hinges and hitting a resident, injuring them, or a staff member humiliating or speaking rudely to a resident. A medium priority incident could be a resident receiving cold coffee, a resident missing a recreational activity, or a resident leaving dirty clothes on the bathroom floor. Low-priority events could be a problem with coding in someone’s medical record that did not affect care.
“Every complaint that comes to the agency is important to us, because it’s impacting someone’s life,” Barbara Cass, senior advisor to the health commissioner for long-term care, told CT Mirror.
Medium and low priority complaints are “important to us, but do not suggest an imminent threat to life or safety or an immediate negative outcome,” he said.
Lawmakers said that while high-priority events are being addressed, quality-of-life issues that could lead to lower-priority complaints are also crucial.
“We need to be able to respond to those complaints in light of the atrocities we’ve been seeing in nursing homes,” said Rep. Jane Garibay, D-Windsor, co-chair of the Aging Committee. “We hear from the public all the time and we shouldn’t (just respond) because someone suffocated to death.
“If someone is being mistreated… five years later, that person could be dead. Some of the people who complained in 2019 aren’t even alive now. That is why it is very important to reach them. We hope that with this support they can achieve it.”
“There are no minor complaints. If someone is complaining, it’s about quality of life issues,” added Rep. Mitch Bolinsky of Newtown, a ranking Republican on the Aging Committee. “The goal is for all complaints to be addressed. We have to eliminate the delay. The intention of the funding is for these teams to work up to 40 hours (a week) and give them the opportunity to organize their workload.”
Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, co-chair of the Appropriations Committee, said the health department should also consider mandatory overtime for workers to help clear the backlog of complaints.
“They should work overtime until these cases catch up,” he said. “What is called ‘low’ or ‘medium’ complaint is still something important for the family member or the person who is inside a nursing home. If they are stuck in bed for too long or the food they are given doesn’t taste good or isn’t hot enough, that’s a big problem.
“I will not eat food that is not cooked enough. I don’t expect anyone to stay in bed all day. These are things we should not accept.”
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