The New York Times has documented extensive and disturbing violations of care standards at investor-owned private nursing homes in the United States. From an analysis of government data on over 15,000 nursing homes covering the last six years, the New York Times found that investor-owned homes were more likely to:
- cut nursing staff, even below regulated standards
- score worse on resident health measures like bed sores, preventable infections, and injuries
- be cited for serious quality-of-care deficiencies, like moldy food, excessive use of restraints on residents, and administration of the wrong medications
- make 41 per cent higher profits than the average facility (much of the money coming from taxpayer programs like Medicare and Medicaid)
Investor-owned homes were also found to have created complex corporate structures to insulate them from costly lawsuits from residents and their families.