What We Found Using Nursing Home Inspect

In February 2011, a nursing home resident in Michigan wandered away in a blizzard, unnoticed by staff. He was wearing only pajama pants, a sweater, canvas shoes and a knit cap. A technician driving to work found him half an hour later at a busy intersection, wet and covered with snow, government inspectors wrote.

Five months later, a resident at a different Michigan nursing home climbed out of a secured window in the home’s locked dementia ward, hitchhiked a ride and was picked up by police hours later in a restaurant some 65 miles away. Nursing home staff did not even realize he was missing, inspectors found.

Were these incidents, known as “elopement,” isolated? Or do they suggest a pattern? Until recently, no one could really say how often such incidents occur. Read More

Now, ProPublica has mademade it easy to search nearly 118,000 deficiencies found during government inspections at 14,565 nursing homes nationwide.

News Application: Nursing Home Inspect

Tipsheet: How to Use Nursing Home Inspect

by Charles Ornstein | @charlesornstein