This week on NPR, the Morning Edition show explored how “recent studies suggest that for-profit ownership [of nursing homes] may have endangered residents by skimping on care, while funneling cash to owners and investors.” The story continued to analyze a chain of nursing homes in the Midwest, named Aperion Care, their for-profit business model that consistently received low ratings from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, as well as understaffed their facilities.
70% of nursing homes are for-profit, and issues like low staffing are common. Some argue that this is deliberate in order to make money. If true, “this strategy comes at a cost” as “thousands of nursing homes across the country have connected for-profit ownership and low nurse staffing to increased coronavirus infections.” With understaffing, facilities were ill-prepared to prevent and stop the spread of COVID-19, which has heavily affected nursing home and assisted living facilities since the initial outbreak.
For the full story, you can listen or read here.
