Florida Nursing Home Lawyer Blog
Nursing homes across the country are watching closely the recent lawsuit filed by New Mexico Attorney General Gary King, who alleges inadequate staffing levels made it mathematically impossible to provide an appropriate level of care to elderly patients.
It’s an interesting strategy in that while there are some specific allegations of neglect, the primary source of contention is the failure to provide enough staff. The lawsuit is against for-profit nursing home chain Preferred Care Partners Management Group. The company is based in Texas, but operates dozens of nursing homes in in 10 states – including Florida. It is deemed the 10th-largest nursing home chain in the country. It has collected some $230 million from state and federal government coffers since 2008, and it houses roughly 1 million residents nationally.
Observers say if the New Mexico lawsuit is successful, other states may well follow suit. The lawsuit targets seven facilities operating within that state. The company runs the top four worst-performing nursing homes in that state, according to quality grading provided by the federal website Nursing Home Compare. Those facilities reported more than six times the average number of safety and health care violations as compared to other centers nationwide.