San Francisco, CA – Calling for an overhaul in the Department of Public Health, the agency responsible for oversight of California’s nursing homes, California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform has released a white paper summarizing major problems in long term care in California and offering suggestions as to what needs to be done to improve nursing home and residential care for elders and persons with disabilities. 

The paper, titled “California’s Broken Long Term Care System,” outlines the problems in oversight, enforcement and funding in nursing homes, residential care, home and community based services and elder abuse prevention and prosecution and offers recommendations for improvement.  These include:

• The need for replacing the leadership at the Department of Public Health and the Center for Health Care Quality with visionary consumer protection leaders who will reform the Department and directly address the crisis in care nursing home residents are facing.
• Adequate funding for the Department of Social Services to meaningfully inspect and oversee California’s 7,200+ RCFEs which house over 152,000 frail elders, along with oversight of 66,000+ other facilities in California.
• Increase availability and access to cost-saving home and community based alternatives for those who do not wish to die in a nursing home. 
• Increase remedies for victims of residents’ rights violations and elder abuse, including a private right of action.

CANHR calls on the new Governor and legislators to address this crisis in long term care and to create new models of care where the health and safety of residents take priority and where elder abuse becomes a distant memory.

Copy of Report: CLICK HERE