More than 3,000 nursing homes are rated “not suitable” by the Department of Health, with more than 1,500 rated “inadequate,” a new report says.
The latest Nursing Home Ratings and Quality Initiative, released Tuesday, is the result of a year-long effort by the group.
The group is seeking to identify the nursing homes that are not suitable for nursing home residents, the report says, and to improve the quality of care at those homes.
The group says that the number of nursing homes rated “poor” by Health and Human Services (HHS) has more than doubled since January.
While the nursing facilities are not rated by the government, some of the states have their own standards.
In 2016, the states of California, Florida, Georgia, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Vermont each rated nursing homes “not fit for nursing use” by HHS.
HHS has since updated the state standards and says it will be updating its own rating system for nursing homes later this year.
The new report does not specifically address whether the nursing centers are located in California, but the group said in its release that it is not uncommon for nursing facilities to be located in other states.
According to the report, some nursing homes in the U.S. are understaffed, underfunded, underutilized, and underperforming.
“Despite these challenges, there are many good and responsible nursing home providers who offer excellent care,” the group says.
This includes facilities that are “well-trained, well-staffed and well-designed to care for the patients they serve,” the report adds.
Nursing homes that have a “poor or declining occupancy rate” are the most at risk for problems, the group adds.
In 2017, it said there were more than 7,500 nursing homes deemed “not adequate.”
The report, which is being released as a part of the National Day of Action for Nursing Homes, was developed by the nursing group and the Association of State Directors of Nursing Home Accreditation (ASDNAH).
“The quality of nursing care at nursing homes is of great concern to the American public,” the association’s president, Karen Sifrin, said in a statement.
“Nursings are a vital component of the American health care system, and the fact that nursing homes do not meet or meet their high quality standards is a major barrier to the continued progress of the nation’s nursing home population.”
