Army of advocates keeps up pressure for reform
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ST. LOUIS, Mo. _ Violette King is buzzing around her home office in Godfrey, Mo., searching through photos and cluttered files detailing nursing home abuse when a ringing telephone interrupts. On the line is an elderly man. He wants a recommendation on a nursing home for his ailing wife, who is being discharged from a hospital. “Can’t you keep her at home?” King asks in an incredulous tone, hand on hip. “We don’t recommend any nursing homes. There aren’t any good ones around here.” Her response is harsh. But King, one of the nation’s leading voices for nursing home reform, is adamant in her belief. Across the country, thousands of advocates like King work tirelessly to keep close tabs on the multibillion-dollar nursing home industry. Whether it’s sneaking into industry meetings to gather intelligence, donning disguises to make midnight inspections in problem homes or traveling long distances to badger lawmakers to reform nursing home laws, this ragtag army of agitators keeps the pressure on nursing home owners, employees and public officials. Loosely knit by phone, fax, e-mail and Web sites, they form a nationwide information network that identifies poor homes, crusades for legislative change and in many cases provides the last hope for families who feel abused by the system. “It is somewhat of a crazy quilt of organizations and individuals, but it is an incredibly dedicated and stalwart group,” said Deborah Mitchell of… Source : accessmylibrary.com |