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Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently published an article on non-profit nursing homes. According to Canadian researchers, non-profit nursing homes provide better care than for-profit nursing homes.

They reviewed the results of 82 studies from 1965 to 2003. The results showed that forty studies found non-profit nursing facilities provided better quality care and three studies found that for-profit homes delivered better care.

These studies, for the most part, were performed in Canada and the United States.

“The review authors calculated that if all nursing homes were non-profit, nursing home residents in the United States would receive 500,000 more hours of nursing care per day, while those in Canada would receive 42,000 more hours of nursing care per day.

More results from this study showed that of 7,000 cases of pressure ulcers in Canada, 600 were directly linked to for-profit ownership of nursing facilities and 7,000 of 80,000 pressure ulcer cases occurred in the United States.

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    Facebook User

    Yes, because for profit nursing homes such as giant Sun Healthcare are only concerned about profits for their shareholders. They make it their policy to understaff and not replace broken equipment. As a result my mother died due to their blatant disregard for human life. She lived in a Newport Beach facility operated by SUN, where their own Medical Director wrote in 2006 SUN killed her: Dr Scott Stoney, Newport Beach, California wrote

    "There are several incidences of concern in this patients' case which should be noticed. The frequency of her recurrent pneumonia is concerning as well as the type of pneumonia which she developed were concerning. The infection incidence at Sunbridge Newport was monitored quarterly and it was noted over the national average during infection control meeting in the final quarter of the year 2003. As I was medical director for this facility I had request further evaluation by the staff to the etiology of this occurrence within the facility. Multiple families had complained about this problem. Unfortunately, the administration did not take due diligence in ameliorating this problem in 2003. Lack of sufficient ventilation contributes to pneumonia. This was a sentinel event; however the administration continued to give both patients families and the undersigned a variety of excuses why it was "taking some time" to fix this problem. Upon review of the medical record, it is medically probably that this patients recurrent pneumonia (especially MRSA) was related to the physical facility.

    There is another incidence of concern. Blood pressure monitoring cuffs which were not working in Sunbridge Newport in 2003. This, again, was a sentinel event and of grave concern. As medical director, this was an extraordinary event which prompted my immediate reaction as Medical Director to request the administration immediately order new blood pressure equipment for the safety of the patients within the facility. I was subsequently directly in contact from my Newport Beach private practice office with Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse Special Agent Supervisor Joseph Fendrick to discuss this matter. Unfortunately this was too late for Mrs. Evelyn Calvert, she arrived 7/16/04 to the emergency room in again respiratory distress and she died. Due to the limited response of the administration to meet patient needs, I resigned from Sunbridge Newport Rehabilitation in March, 2004 and gave sixty day notice of my termination as Medical Director from the facility. It is my opinion, as a Board Certified physician ..... that this patients death is within medical probability aggravated or in causation by the failure of the ventilator system within Sunbridge Newport as well as the failure of the blood pressure monitoring devices within the facility."

    This isn't rocket science, Buzz would say.

    Deborah Calvert, Newport Beach, California

    former asst. to Buzz Aldrin

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