People were uprooted already when they were placed in these facilities
Re “Seniors uprooted as nursing homes fail” (Page A1, Oct. 10): This article seemed to me to be slanted toward the nursing facility industry and lobby. There are countless studies, books, and articles that demonstrate better health outcomes and quality of life for seniors and individuals living with disabilities when they receive care in the community as opposed to in the institutional setting of a skilled nursing facility. It has long been the goal of Governor Charlie Baker’s administration to close underperforming and poor-quality nursing facilities, and the article rightfully cites its support of “right-sizing the industry.”
Per capita, Massachusetts still has more nursing homes than many other states. The residents there were uprooted from their homes when they were placed in those facilities. The administration has numerous options to transition individuals back into the community with all the appropriate resources to ensure true integration and a sustainable placement with the right home health and community-based services. Secretary Marylou Sudders should be leveraging the Aging Services Access Points and Independent Living Centers networks to work side-by-side with nursing facility staff social workers to tenderly assist with these placements.
In a nice juxtaposition, your editorial in the same edition advocated for an additional solution (“Raising wages for an overlooked workforce: home health caregivers”). We need to compensate these workers for their invaluable service, which saves the Commonwealth tens of millions of dollars each year by providing care for individuals in the least restrictive environment: their own home or a community-based arrangement.
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Kenneth J. Smith
Boston
The writer was director of the MassHealth Office of Long Term Services and Supports for four of his 10 years at the Executive Office of Health and Human Services. He also led the deinstitutionalization of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities into community homes as part of the Rolland v. Patrick settlement agreement.
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Downsizing is appropriate, but rights of facilities’ residents should be respected
I write to clarify Dignity Alliance Massachusetts’ position on the closure of nursing facilities (“Seniors uprooted as nursing homes fail”).
DignityMA supports the actions taken by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services to pursue adherence to stringent operating standards, which improve the quality of life for nursing home residents. We recognize that these necessary actions may result in the closing of some nursing facilities. With the steady decline of the overall population of nursing home residents over the past 20 years, and especially since the onset of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, downsizing of the number of facilities is appropriate and to be expected. However, the closure process must occur responsibly, respecting residents’ rights and honoring their choices.
Residents must be informed of all their options and be offered acceptable opportunities for appropriate relocation. In fact, the best approach to the closures of nursing facilities was described in the Oct. 13 article reporting on the Americans with Disabilities Act-related litigation seeking the expansion of residential options in the Commonwealth (“Mass. residents with disabilities file suit over living options: Say they are unnecessarily in nursing homes,” Metro).
Experience with previous closures demonstrates that nursing home residents are able to live safely in homes in the community when resources are made available. This benefits residents and their families as well as taxpayers who fund MassHealth, the principal source of funding for nursing homes.
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Paul J. Lanzikos
Coordinator
Dignity Alliance Massachusetts
Beverly
Profit-oriented nursing home system widens inequities
How we treat the vulnerable members of our society — homeless children, immigrants, people suffering from mental illness, people with disabilities, the elderly — is a reflection of our morality as a society.
Because of our profit-oriented nursing home system, people with money do well while those without resources find themselves being evicted. Why don’t we ensure that the impoverished elderly have high-quality housing?
A single-payer national health program would be a better solution than our current fragmented health insurance system. Reimbursements for nursing homes would be boosted above current MassHealth levels; evictions would be prevented.
It is the responsibility of our political leaders to protect marginalized people. When they abdicate their duty, voters should hold them accountable at the ballot box.
Dr. Philip A. Lederer
Jamaica Plain
The writer is a member of Physicians for a National Health Program.
