The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services began accepting applications this week for grants which would help states establish systems for background checking potential long-term care employees. The funding is part of the Patient Safety and Abuse Prevention Act, a bill that was supported by Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI) of the Senate Special Committee on Aging and was passed in March as a part of the healthcare reform.
States who receive the grants will be given funding over a three year period to create comprehensive, coordinated systems that will prevent those with criminal records and a history of abuse from gaining employment in long-term care facilities. The law requires potential hires to be checked against the FBI’s national database of criminal history records as well as state criminal records. For more, read the story.
Robert W. Carter, Jr. is a Virginia attorney whose law practice is dedicated to protecting the rights of the victims of nursing home and assisted living neglect and abuse in Richmond, Roanoke, Norfolk, Lynchburg, Danville, Charlottesville, and across Virginia.
