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What if any applicability does the ADA have on the State's regulation of a
nursing home?
QUESTION: My son has been in the same room with the same roomate in a nursing home for 5
years. They are very happy in the room. My son will be leaving within the
year, and until then, his room is his "home." The nursing home is licensed to
provide baseline skilled nursing care, nothing more. We were just told that in
30 days, they would be moving these two young men from the room they have
known, and from the staff they have developed a close relationship with over
the years. My son is devastated, as am I. They will not even guarantee that
the roomates can stay together. They plan to segregate all the head injury
patients to a separate unit from the geriatric population and from rehab
patients that have insurance and pay more (the head injury patients are almost
all on Medicaid). There are no plans to provide any special services to the
head injury patients. This appears to be a move just to group classes of
patients together. I feel this is a great infringement on my son's right to
quality life, to a choice in his living environment. In addition, as a head
injured person, he will be extremely disoriented for several months after such
a move. And finally, he will lose the care, and companionship he has known
from his primary caretakers for the past 5 years. One in particular, the only
male aide he has, has become very important to him.
The state's regulation says the residents approval of such a move is not requi
red.While I understand that this was intended to be able to move residents who
become disruptive or are incompatible with their roommate for one reason or
another, or if infection control issues arise, etc., this is not the case.
There is no good reason for this move. Could this regulation, allowing a
facility to move a patient against his wishes for no good reason, be
inherently discriminatory?
I'm at a loss as to how to stop this quickly! Any ideas, suggestions,
comments, etc. would be greatly appreciated!
ANSWER: I'm not sure if ADA covers nursing homes; however, I am almost certain that
under the regulations of OBRA which cover issues pertaining to "Quality of
Care" and"Quality of Life" in all nursing homes, a resident has the right to
refuse to
move or to change roommates. Please check with your state Public Health Dept.-
try the division of licensure and certification. You may also want to try your
Ombudsperson (the name should be available from the nursing home
administrator's office) or the Dept. of Aging.
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