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American assisted living facility has to follow. Is it regulated state to
state, or the whole country?
QUESTION: I'm Canadian, and therefore unable to answer the questions a good friend of
mine posed about an assisted living facility.
Here's the situation.
Her Gramma is in an assisted living facility, in Minnesota. This facility
has 3 floors, and when the elevator recently broke down, they refused to get
it repaired over the weekend, knowing full well that residents on the third
floor would have to walk down to get their meals. Gramma made it, just
barely.
Evening meals frequently consist of bread and tomatoes. This has been
verified by family members. They're also served food that's too tough to
chew or
too spicy. And large pieces of raw carrot are often given to them as a
snack, or part of a meal. More often than not, the residents go hungry
because they can't
eat the food. My friend's Gramma has lost 10 lbs in 2 months.
There are other instances of neglect/abuse, also verified by
family. BTW, this family is not quick to scream "neglect" or "abuse", they
are sensible people. The whole elevator deal was the last straw.
My friend, knowing that I'm an RN, asked me where she could call, to report
this facility, and maybe at least get an inspector in there to check things
out.
A call has already been made to Social Services.
Now, if this was Canada, I'd be able to give her a full list of phone
numbers, complete with names.
Can you give me any other ideas of who they can call, or write to, to have
this facility checked out? I have no idea of the regulations that an
American assisted living facility has to follow. Is it regulated state to
state, or the whole country?
Thanks in advance for any ideas or suggestions you may have.
ANSWER: The state department of health would be a good guess, but it most likely varies
by state. I would start there, unless you do a search on the internet. In
Florida, there is an abuse hotline, with phone numbers posted conspicuously in
psych hospitals and nursing homes. Look in the information section of your
phone bood - it may also be listed there.
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