Making Nursing Homes Safer
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The rape of a comatose young woman in a nursing home near Rochester, N.Y., is a dramatic reminder of the abuses that often plague these facilities. The only redeeming feature in this story is that it should give a forceful shove to the proposal by Dennis Vacco, New York State’s Attorney General, for meticulous background checks of nursing home employees. A car accident left the woman in a coma 10 years ago. She was placed in the Westfall Health Care Center last year, and in December was discovered to be four to five months pregnant. Her parents have chosen to let the pregnancy continue, apparently because they believe that would be her wish. Apart from any ethical issues that decision may raise, this is a criminal rape case and the perpetrator may have been a Westfall employee. Even before the incident, Mr. Vacco, whose office receives about 1,000 nursing home abuse complaints every year, had proposed more extensive background checks. The State Health Department keeps a registry of certified nurse’s aides, who make up the bulk of nursing home staffs. But the registry consists mainly of records of past employment. More : query.nytimes.com |