W-B fire chief to testify at disaster preparedness hearing

Posted on September 20, 2017 by Wilkes-Barre Citizens' Voice

Members of a U.S. Senate committee want to ensure the safety of the nation’s aged and infirm during natural disasters, and Wilkes-Barre’s fire chief is one of the people they’re turning to for advice. City Fire Chief and Emergency Management Coordinator Jay Delaney is among…

Outsourcing of health center jobs possible, employees in three departments told

Posted on September 20, 2017 by Washington Observer-Reporter

As the target date approaches for privatization of Washington County Health Center, Service Employees International Union Healthcare PA convened a meeting of its members there Monday, when they learned that jobs in the dietary, laundry and housekeeping departments may or may not be outsourced….

Long-term care insurance can lessen the impact of aging

Posted on September 19, 2017 by Reading Eagle

Charles Dudley Warner, a contemporary of author Mark Twain, once said, “Everybody complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.”Perhaps the same can be applied to long-term-care insurance: People talk about it, but that’s about as far as it goes, until suddenly the…

Check quality ratings for nursing homes

Posted on September 19, 2017 by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Check quality ratings for nursing homes We all wonder how the deaths in the Florida nursing home could have happened, and how can we make sure this won’t happen again (“8 Die at Florida Nursing Home,” Sept. 14). While Western Pennsylvanians do not have to worry about floods and poor evacuation plans, the quality of…

Authorities probe asphyxiation of Rep. Dan Frankel’s father at Pittsburgh nursing home

Posted on September 19, 2017 by Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Authorities are investigating the accidental death of the father of State Rep. Dan Frankel at a Squirrel Hill nursing home, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office said Tuesday. Robert Frankel, 89, died of asphyxiation in an accidental manner at the Charles M. Morris Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Squirrel Hill,…

Mandate Air-Conditioning for Nursing Homes

Posted on September 19, 2017 by New York Times

To the Editor: Re “8 Die After Power Fails at Care Center in Florida” (front page, Sept. 14): In the wake of the tragic deaths of nursing home residents in Florida, the country should be alerted to the little-known fact that many American nursing homes lack air-conditioning. If air-conditioning is present, it is…

Indiana nursing home company sues former executives

Posted on September 19, 2017 by AP

A nursing home management firm in Indiana has sued several former executives who are already criminally charged with embezzling more than $16 million from the company… 

Trump officials propose again letting nursing homes force residents, families into arbitration

Posted on September 18, 2017 by Columbus Dispatch

A lawsuit might seem like the obvious way to seek justice if a loved one is hurt, abused or neglected in a nursing home. But many residents sign away that option on the day they move in — sometimes unknowingly, because the deal is tucked in stacks of admission…

The inexplicable horror of the deaths of eight elderly people in Florida

Posted on September 18, 2017 by Washington Post

“UNFATHOMABLE.” “INEXCUSABLE.” Those were the words used respectively by Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) and Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) to describe the deaths of eight elderly people found in a sweltering nursing home in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma last week. Those…

‘Waiting for help that never came’: Fla. nursing home where eight died after Irma defends actions, says it called governor for help

Posted on September 17, 2017 by Washington Post

The night before Hurricane Irma began roaring over Florida, staffers at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills locked the doors, shuttered the windows and turned the temperature down to about 67 degrees — a buffer, administrators thought, to keep the building cool in case the power went…