The state is ramping up pressure on long-term care and nursing facilities that miss the mark.
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham joined the state’s top health officials Wednesday to discuss the results of surprise inspections, and plans to improve the system.
Between May 17 and 19, the state made unannounced visits at 91 long-term care facilities, including nursing, assisted living, and skilled nursing facilities, in 13 different counties.
77 facilities scored 80% or above, with 11 having a perfect score. But Department of Health Secretary Patrick Allen said almost 90% failed at least one portion of the inspection.
Four facilities failed, with two of them having findings so egregious that they were immediately reported to the Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation Hotline.
At one of those two, Morada Senior Living in Albuquerque, the inspectors met a family who had shown up for a visit and discovered their loved one missing. Allen said staff were completely unaware, and the patient had gone missing before without the incident ever having been reported.
At Los Palomas Center in Albuquerque, owned by Genesis HealthCare, inspectors found a man who had soiled himself and was left to sit in it with no other clothes, as all he had been given was a single hospital gown.
“At nine o'clock the next morning, 12 hours later, that person had not been changed,” he said. “That was attended to on the spot. But absolutely no one should ever be in that kind of a condition.”
Among the most common failures were “a strong urine, feces, disinfectant or chemical odor,” along with a lack of participation in activities and residents left sleeping in wheelchairs.
The governor said people in these facilities should be receiving better care, and having better outcomes than they would by themselves at home, or even with a caregiver at home.
“Well, I can tell you that by and large, New Mexico does not meet that standard, and I can also tell you that we will meet that standard,” she said. “We are going to do everything it takes to make sure that we're improving the quality of care, and we're going to hold our partners accountable.”
Lujan Grisham says she personally assisted in some of the inspections after doing the 30-hour training, and she’ll be doing more, as the issue was personal for her because of problems her mother experienced at a care facility.
“My mom was unclothed, was sick, very sick,” she said, “and had been sick in that bed without a sheet, without being cleaned, without medication, without seeing a doctor, and was crying out for help and at the same time telling me ‘I'll be okay.’”
Officials said they will leverage federal Medicaid dollars to bring on more staff and continue these sorts of inspections.
The governor also said the state is exploring other possible solutions to the problem, such as increasing pay for health care workers, and encouraging more young people to go into the field.
Plus, DOH is partnering with Workforce Solutions to identify issues and challenges for existing workers.
Support for this coverage comes from the W.K. Kellogg foundation.
