Category: Health Care
-
The Deadly Consequences of Non-Compliant Nursing Home Reporting
by James C. Sherlock Regulators and law enforcement agencies cannot oversee what they do not understand. They do not understand nursing home management structures, and thus, business models of chains whose facilities, due to the core role of understaffing in those models, routinely abuse and cause the untimely deaths of residents. Section 1124(c) of…
-
Crime and Punishment in Virginia Nursing Homes
by James C. Sherlock The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) inspectors regularly report instances of resident abuse, including battery, occasionally resulting in death. That has persisted for decades and appears undeterred by current enforcement efforts. The Code of Virginia (Code) is partially at fault. It makes it challenging for the state, its citizens, and local…
-
Massive Infusion of Rural Healthcare Funds will be a Magnet for Waste and Fraud
by James C. Sherlock The Trump administration has announced that Virginia will receive $189,544,888 for 2026 alone to improve rural healthcare. That figure is based on an application made by the Youngkin Administration that specified how it would be spent. That is just a down payment. The Rural Health Transformation Program’s $50 billion…
-
No, Health Care Is Not a “Fundamental Right”
Bernie Sanders isn’t “lying,” as Delegate Nick Freitas, R-Culpeper, says here. The Vermont socialist believes what he says. Rather, he’s confused about what constitutes a “fundamental right.” However, Freitas nails it when he explains that a fundamental right such as free speech, freedom of religion, etc., does not entitle you to the property and labor…
-
Nursing Home Staffing – What Regulators Can See
by James C. Sherlock In the last episode of this series, the author wrote about what citizens should do to choose a nursing home. He made the case that a search should use Medicare Compare to make a list of facilities in the vicinity of your search area and then use the Staffing rating to…
-
What to Look For When Seeking a Nursing Home
by James C. Sherlock The first thing to know when seeking a nursing home is that the Social Security Act spells out nursing home requirements relating to residents’ rights. See here subparagraph (c). Once informed of the rights you or your loved one will have, Medicare Compare is by far the best source available to…
-
Updates to Regional Nursing Home Assessments
by James C. Sherlock On November 16, the author revised previous articles on the nursing homes in the Eastern, Central, and Southwest regions to provide better data and explain it better in a much-revised spreadsheet. The format the author chose previously wasn’t getting the job done, so he changed it. The new one…
-
Virginia Nursing Homes – Southwestern Region Update
by James C. Sherlock This article was revised on November 16 to provide a better view of the data. The format the author chose wasn’t getting the job done, so he revised it. Changes in the text are made only to reflect the updated spreadsheet. It should provide more clarity. This is the third article…
-
Virginia’s Nursing Homes – Central Region Update
by James C. Sherlock This article was revised on November 16 to provide a better view of the data. The format the author chose wasn’t getting the job done, so he revised it. Changes in the text are made only to reflect the updated spreadsheet. It should provide more clarity. This is the second article…
-
Virginia’s Nursing Homes – Eastern Region Update
by James C. Sherlock This article was revised on November 16 to provide a better view of the data. The format the author chose wasn’t getting the job done, so he revised it. Changes in the text are made only to reflect the updated spreadsheet. It should provide more clarity. This will be a sub-series…
-
Virginia’s Dreadful Nursing Homes – Part 7 – How to Stop A Deadly Scheme
by James C. Sherlock A brutal pattern is observed repeatedly. Some chains offering the worst nursing homes in America have established a singular process for profit maximization. It is seen in a combination of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) data on their operating subsidiaries and city/county property records on their real estate…
-
Now the Hard Part Begins
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Overlooked in all the news around the election was some sobering budget news for the next governor. As reported by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Virginia Dept. of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) has forecast that Virginia’s Medicaid costs will increase by $3.2 billion over the next three years. That increase consists of an additional…
-
Virginia’s Worst Nursing Home Chains – Part Six – A Picture of Deceit
by James C. Sherlock “This nursing home information is confusing, mindbending, and scary. Please draw us a picture to clarify.” Well, readers are right. It is all three of those things. It is meant to be so by some people in the system. Virginia has some excellent nursing homes and chains, but those are not…
-
Virginia’s Dreadful Nursing Homes – Part Five – Chain Corporate Structures and the Undoing of the Regulatory Structure
by James C. Sherlock Today, we will examine a big factor in why nursing home regulation fails. It is doomed in part by the organizational structures of chains that mask a deadly lack of corporate ethics. Government regulators not only do not stop it, but are currently helpless to do so for the simplest of…
-
Virginia’s Dreadful Nursing Homes – Part Four – Recommendations For 2026 Legislation
by James C. Sherlock This series is being constructed specifically to support legislation in the 2026 General Assembly. To reiterate the legislative recommendations from Part 3: Recommended legislation Consumer protection. Right now, citizens in Virginia Beach and in other communities have no defense against poor and badly staffed nursing homes that charge too much. The…