A disturbing June 2019 report by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the federal Department of Health and Human Services revealed that skilled nursing facilities failed to report 84 percent of cases of suspected abuse involving high-risk emergency hospitalizations of residents. The misleadingly-titled report, Incidents of Potential Abuse and Neglect at Skilled Nursing Facilities Were Not Always Reported and Investigated, describes evidence of abuse in hospital records that is routinely ignored and exposes how little states and the federal government are doing to identify and prevent abuse of nursing home residents. The report follows a public warning the OIG released on August 24, 2017 that evidence of sexual assaults and other serious crimes are often ignored by nursing homes and officials charged with protecting residents from abuse.

Read the Consumer Voice’s June 17, 2019 statement on the OIG findings.