A congressional report out Monday September 15, 2008 says 1,600 U.S. nursing homes — nearly one-third — have been cited for abuse.
Some 5,283 nursing homes were cited for abuse violations, according to a review of state inspection records requested by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif. These homes were cited for nearly 9,000 abuse violations from January 1999 to January 2001.
The reported abuses were physical, sexual and verbal. All abuse is on the rise, the report said. More than twice as many nursing homes were cited for abuse in 2000 than in 1996. In 1996, 5.9 percent of all nursing homes were cited for an abuse violation during their annual inspections; in 2000, 16 percent of nursing homes were cited.
The report found that in 1,601 nursing homes – about 1 in 10 – abuse citations were made in serious incidents that either put residents at great risk of harm, injured them or killed them.