Rosenbaum & Rosenbaum, P.C. | November 4, 2016 | Medical Malpractice

Nursing homes are private facilities that provide shelter and care to people who are aged, infirm, sick or disabled. The vast majority of nursing homes receive funding through Medicare and Medicaid and are thus subject to substantial federal regulation and oversight, in addition to state regulators.

The federal government is extremely interested in regulating nursing homes because every major study projects that nursing homes are going to grow by billions of dollars and thousands of facilities. Americans are growing older and living longer which means that they will need additional facilities to care and shelter them.

Federal regulators distinguish among four “types” of nursing homes. First, adult boarding care facilities provide the lowest level of care. Second, residential care facilities provide more medical assistance than adult boarding care, but they do not provide any substantial medical care.

Third, intermediate care facilities care for residents with chronic medical issues and may be staffed with a registered nurse. Fourth, and finally, are skilled nursing facilities which provide substantial medical assistance and are staffed by numerous nurses to address complicated medical conditions.

As a general rule, the more medical care that a facility provides, the more extensive the federal regulations and the more substantial the residents’ rights the facility is subjected to.

Did your parent or grandparent suffer a nursing home injury? If so, then you may want to speak with an attorney to review their right to recovery. Your loved one is at the mercy of their nursing home caregivers. As such, your loved one is protected by extensive rights and regulations. It is up to the nursing home to ensure that its staff obeys these regulations through its internal policies. A lawyer can hold them to that standard.