There is a huge problem in America many are not aware of, nursing homes.   The list of issues is limitless but is all caused by one problem, read below. Let your Congressmen(women) know you care about this very important issue  and would like to see our Congress review and delve into it and any potential recommendations for positive change.  I welcome your comments. 

Here is my letter sent to both representatives in US Congress in both Senate and the House in Michigan and Tennessee. If issues are not brought up by voters, too often they are ignored.  

     I am a concerned voter who would like to bring your attention to an issue that is bi-partisan. The network of nursing homes deserves careful review by members of Congress as a national problem and some would say a disgrace.  We are seeing an epidemic problem in the making as America is growing its elderly population.  Currently there are 16.5 million Americans over the age of 65 years old.   Many of these still vote and have family members concerned about this issue that are registered voters as well.

     Nursing home issues stem from a central problem, understaffing.  With so many patients with dementia or Alzheimer’s, the care patients receive is 100% reliant on the staff at these facilities which is not sufficient.  According to the Alzheimer's Association 2020 Disease Facts and Figures report, 48% of all nursing home residents have either of these two diagnoses. 

     My mother, Margaret Lillian Ketterman  was one of these patients until she died September 24^th of this year.  My letter is in behalf of my mother at her request when she was dying.

·         Her home was The Laurels of Sandy Creek which is in Michigan (Wayland). 

·         As a co-guardian of my mother, I was responsible with my sister for overseeing her care and attending to her needs.

·         This was nearly impossible many times.  The front desk would answer a call but there was no nurse available to update her status on a given day or hold the phone to our mother’s ear. 

·         Though my mother had dementia, it affected her body more than her mind so she had general awareness of her condition and that of the staff there. She was concerned about making the few staff available that had not quit yet angry so seldom used her voice thus was entirely reliant on us.

·         We had monthly care calls for our mom set up by the social worker at the facility. No nurse was available for the calls the majority of the time.

·         Her hospice nurse, brought in to the care my mother when it became obvious she was dying, had to provide some basic needs that were not being met, e.g. bathing, food she could and would eat.

     These conditions are the norm in nursing homes all across the country. Please consider contacting hospices in your district and ask them how well nursing homes are staffed and what problems they see due to a lack of employees there.  Make an impromptu unannounced visit to a nursing home in your district and observe the number of nursing staff on a floor, sometimes is appalling.

     The law in the state of Michigan is that court appointed guardians must visit once every 3 months. This is not sufficient for a deteriorating patient when staff is unable to adequately address their growing needs.   I was unable to locate the visitation requirements for guardianship for elderly in the state of Tennessee but know that guardianships are not a working solution for issues for seniors in nursing homes. An estimated 1.3 million adults are under guardianship in this country, 85 percent of them over 65 per AARP.

General Statistics:

·         Population of Michigan residents in nursing homes in 2020 – 36,749; In the state of TN: 26,647

·         Note: In 2019, the state of Tennessee had an estimated population of 6,829,174 people, and 16.7% of that population is aged 65 and over

·         Population of US residents in nursing homes in 2021 – 10,077,331

  My suggestions are as follows:

·         Form a committee to review the need for improvement in overall care of both nursing home residents and nursing staff.

·         Examine the pay scale for staff to see if this is a contributing factor in high turnover rates.

·         Is this problem worse in homes like the one my mother was in that are almost entirely reliant on federal/state aid, e.g. Medicaid patients?

     Without aggressive action, we are treating residents no better than inmates though they have committed no crime. Note, that as of 2015, monies going to nursing home care amounted to 169 billion dollars. Voters will be responsive to changes and strongly support agenda to implement change.

Sincerely,

Veronica A. Gliatti

Co-Guardian - M.L. Ketterman

Please do your part and contact your representative!

My mother (in front)  with her older sister and brother in 2021.