A Human Face on the Dangers of Long Term Care Facility Budget Cuts
I recently wrote about the funding cuts Florida nursing homes are facing. The severely reduced budgets are particularly worrisome when I consider one of my clients, Theodore Archer. Mr. Archer’s case was the subject of a recent article in the Miami Herald in a series entitled “Neglected to Death.”
As the article describes, Mr. Archer faced the difficult decision to place his wife, Dorothy, in an assisted-living facility when she developed Alzheimer’s disease. He assumed she would receive quality medical care and attention. While in the facility she developed a large pressure sore that became infected. His lawsuit alleges the pressure sore should never have developed and that it substantially contributed to her death.
Mrs. Archer was in an ALF and not a nursing home. ALFs do not have the staff or training to handle such severe pressure sores. The new state budget cuts may mean that nursing homes in the future will not either. The end result may be a large increase in the neglect of the elderly in both types of facilities.
