GAO Report Finds Serious Problems Persist in Many American Nursing Homes

July 17, 2003
There is a rampant epidemic of abuse and neglect in our nation's nursing homes, and last week's Senate Finance Committee hearing on nursing home quality must lead to governmental action, said Donna Lenhoff, Executive Director of the National Citizens' Coalition for Nursing Home Reforrn (NCCNHR).

"The General Accounting Office (GAO) report released today shows the 1987 Nursing Home Reform Act can work," Lenhoff said, "But the law cannot provide nursing home residents with adequate protections if it isn't enforced."

"Today's hearing clearly shows that to ensure quality of care in our nation's nursing homes, oversight must be significantly improved and the enforcement system strengthened," Lenhoff said.

Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, convened the hearing. the latest in a series of hearings and forums on nursing home quality issues convened by Senator Grassley since 1998.

"What is truly shocking about today's GAO report -- and others before it -- is how much abuse and neglect is tolerated," Lenhoff said. "More than 15 years after the passage of the 1987 Nursing Home Reform Act, the federal government is still documenting the shockingly substandard conditions in too many American nursing homes."

How much longer must we tolerate the abuse, neglect, and exploitation of our elders in facilities entrusted with their care?" Lenhoff asked.