A new report says nursing home care in California hasn't improved in recent years, despite an influx of money from the state. The UC San Francisco study says nursing homes have largely used the new funding to pad their bottom lines. KPBS Reporter Kenny Goldberg has more.
State lawmakers approved the more than half-a-billion dollar boost in Medi-Cal funding in 2004. The study says since then, the amount nursing homes have spent on patient care has decreased. Staff turnover has gone up, and so has the number of complaints about poor quality of care. Pat McGinnis directs the non-profit California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform . She says it's a sad state of affairs.
McGinnis: Basically what our government in California is saying, is that it's okay to reward nursing homes that fail to meet minimum standards, that it's okay to allow nursing home operators to profit at the expense of residents.
The nursing home industry says the report is premature.
Kenny Goldberg, KPBS News.
