The results of a research study presented in an article in the October 2015 issue of The Journal of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine have sounded alarm bells for those living in nursing homes and for the friends and family members who love them.

Researchers in this recently published study started off with a basic objective: to establish if there is a link between the number of hospitalizations and mortality rates and the type of long-term care (nursing) home where an individual resides. They specifically looked at the differences between for-profit and not-for-profit homes.

The research included a retrospective study of admissions in 640 publicly funded long-term care facilities in Ontario, Canada. Three hundred eight-four (384) of these facilities were for-profit and 256 were not-for-profit. There were 53,739 overall admissions into long-term care facilities between January 1, 2010 and March 1, 2012. Researchers looked at hospital admissions and mortality rates at both for-profit and not-for-profit facilities. They collected data at 3, 6, and 12 months after admission and until discharge or death, whichever came first.

In total, 11.7% of all residents died and 25.7% had at least one hospitalization during the time of the study. The most dramatic findings were those that compared the type of nursing home with hospitalization and mortality rates. After 1 year, those residents living in for-profit facilities had a hospitalization rate of 462 per 1000 person years and 208 deaths per 1000 person years. Compare these numbers to the hospitalization rate (358 per 1000 person years) and mortality rate (185 per 1000 person years) of residents in not-for-profit facilities (358 per 1000 person years) and you might find yourself a little stunned. At each follow-up interval, there were significantly higher hospitalizations and deaths of patients living in for-profit homes versus their not-for-profit counterparts.

As the research in this study clearly shows, publicly funded for-profit facilities have significantly higher rates of both mortality and hospital admissions. To read the full research study presented in this article, please click here.

The staff at Olsman MacKenzie and Wallace work hard to educate the public on ways to protect some of the most vulnerable in our society. If you believe that corporate profits have taken the place of patient care at a nursing home where your loved one was injured, please contact one of our attorneys for a free consultation.