HCR ManorCare Nursing Home Chain Riddled with Health Code Violations

Carlyle Group is known as one of the richest, private-equity firms in the world right now. Despite all of the resources that should have been at the Carlyle Group’s disposal, it failed to provide safe housing for the approximate 25,000 elderly residents staying throughout its HCR ManorCare nursing home chain. A recent exposé from The Washington Post discussed the company’s long history of dangerous and inexcusable neglect that amounted to thousands of health code violations and numerous resident injuries.

According to the article, yearly health code violations among HCR ManorCare nursing home locations spiked 26% between the years of 2013 and 2017, to a total close to 2,000. Most of the violations were related to medication mistakes, failing to prevent the formation of bedsores, and neglecting elderly residents who need help with basic day-to-day activities, like eating, bathing, and using the restroom. However, serious health code violations that could cause “immediate jeopardy” and “actual harm” rose 29% in the same time period.

FINANCIAL MISMANAGEMENT LEADS TO NURSING HOME ABUSE

Back in 2011, the Carlyle Group devised a financial plan to siphon $1.3 billion to investors, gutting the resources of HCR ManorCare. Not long after the plan was devised, hundreds of employees were terminated and even further cuts were implemented. In March of 2018, the company filed for bankruptcy.

According to Andrew Porch, a quality statistic consultant that worked with HCR ManorCare when certain health code violations were cited, the company was being run mostly be “bankers and investment people” who “did not know a thing about [the] business at all.”

In response to The Washington Post’s initial inquiries and investigations, the Carlyle Group and HCR ManorCare both denied all allegations of negligent nursing home care. They attempted to explain that the health code violations only increased due to updated inspection methods. There was no elaboration as to how such changes would excuse a health code violation. Blame for the reported incidents of nursing home abuse was also put on legislators for reducing the amount of Medicare support HCR ManorCare received, beginning in 2011.

WHEN PROFITS ARE PUT OVER PEOPLE

Critics of the Carlyle Group’s approach to using private investments to buy and manage healthcare companies, like HCR ManorCare, believe the system is built with profits in mind, not the wellbeing of people. Private equity firms using this strategy tend to scoop up low-cost companies, put money into the project in hopes of improving efficiency and profits, and sell it a few short years later, according to The Washington Post article. Unfortunately, the easiest way for a firm to improve profits is cutting corners and lowering operating expenses, like staffing less and less people to care for elderly residents.

(To read the full Washington Post article about HCR ManorCare, its apparent mismanagement, and the harm it caused to elderly residents staying at its facilities, you can click here. Login information or subscription may be required.)

NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED TRIAL ATTORNEYS HANDLING NURSING HOME ABUSE CASES

Our exceptional personal injury law firm proudly stands up for the rights of the wrongfully injured. If you or a loved one suffered a preventable injury or illness while staying at an HCR ManorCare nursing home, come to our law firm for legal support and guidance. We back each case we handle with 130 years of collective legal experience focused on injury plaintiff claims, which we can use to stand up massive oppositions like the Carlyle Group. Our team of trial attorneys is never satisfied until our clients receive fair and maximized compensation from liable parties.

Contact our nursing home abuse attorneys at 800-568-5330 to arrange a no-cost consultation. We have offices in Kentucky and Alabama.