Georgia: State Admits to Slow Pace in Addressing Nursing Home Complaints

Georgia is dealing with a large backlog of complaints about nursing homes, and also has a substantial vacancy rate in surveyors who check conditions in these facilities, a state health agency said Tuesday. The complaint situation has helped lead to “a mess’’ with federal health officials, Frank Berry, commissioner of the Department of Community Health, told Georgia House lawmakers at a hearing. The nursing home complaints could range from a missing guardrail to a problem with the quality of care, Berry told reporters after a hearing before the House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Health. Community Health is prioritizing the complaints, while hiring new surveyors to fill the vacancies, agency officials said. Berry is the newly appointed commissioner of Community Health, which houses the state’s Medicaid and PeachCare insurance programs, as well as the state employee and teacher health plan. It provides health care services to one in four Georgians. The new commissioner, like his counterparts in other states, is likely to confront a whirlwind of changes involving Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.

Source/more: Rome (GA) News-Tribune

David Wingate is an elder law attorney at the Elder Law Office of David Wingate, LLC. The elder law office services clients with powers of attorneys, living wills, Wills, Trusts, Medicaid and asset protection. The Elder Law office has locations in Frederick and Montgomery Counties, Maryland.