Federal Report Finds Violations at Most Georgia Nursing Homes

The Department of Health and Human Services found that nearly 90 percent of Georgia nursing homes violated federal standards for health and safety last year.

The state was on par with the national average of 92 percent of nursing homes that had violations. The report was issued by the Inspector General’s Office and is based on the state’s annual nursing home inspections.

Georgia has 375 licensed nursing homes with 40,649 beds. The state reduced its number of homes with violations from 95 percent to 88 percent between 2005 and 2007, and was slightly below the national average for number of violations per home.

Still, investigators said the Georgia figures are too high.

Among the problems cited at nursing homes are quality of care and quality of life issues, including bed sores, urinary tract infections, medication mistakes and housekeeping issues.

Becky Kurtz, Georgia’s long-term care ombudsman, said people should get copies of the state inspections from nursing homes they are considering using.

“The general consensus is that there is a very wide variety of quality out there,” Kurtz told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We’ve got a ways to go on quality issues.”