The administration at Riverside Health and Rehabilitation Center may have an open-door complaint policy, but Mary Frost knows firsthand that’s not true of all nursing facilities.
Frost, 72, who has lived at Riverside for the past five years, has been fighting for eight years to make sure patients are protected if they complain about a staff member. Her crusade finally ended this year when the General Assembly passed legislation that requires staff training to include a course on patient’s fear of retaliation.
On Tuesday, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy visited the 345-bed East Hartford nursing home for a ceremonial bill signing.
“With one of the largest aging populations in the United States, Connecticut has one of the highest rates of seniors in nursing homes,” Malloy said.
He said those living in a supportive living facility have the right to live with dignity and in a secure environment where they feel comfortable making a complaint.
“Research has found that nearly 25 percent of nursing home residents in Connecticut believe they have been abused or they have witnessed abuse,” Malloy said. “More troubling is that only 1 in 14 cases of elder abuse are ever brought to the attention of authorities.”
“Mary, you were the brave one,” he added.
The legislation requires that the annual staff trainings include instruction on a patient’s right to file complaints or to otherwise voice grievances, examples of what may be perceived as employee retaliation against patients, and ways to prevent and alleviate patients’ fear of retaliation.
State officials said the legislation makes Connecticut a leader on recognizing the need for education and training about fear of retaliation in nursing homes.
Support authentic, locally owned and operated public service journalism!
“If residents have legitimately complained while in the nursing home, this is the kind of bill they hope for, so they can be assured of no retaliation from staff or administrators,” Aging Commissioner Edith Prague said.
More Health Care News & Analysis
Medical Examining Board Fines Doctor $10,000
The state Medical Examining Board on Tuesday fined an Oxford doctor $10,000 for fraudulently using another doctor’s name and Drug Enforcement Agency registration number to prescribe controlled substances to a family member.
Keep reading
Clinical Trials With Immunotherapy Drugs Are Source Of Hope And Challenges In Treating Aggressive Breast Cancer
Joshalyn Mills of Branford and Nancy Witz of Kensington had the best possible results after being treated in clinical trials with immunotherapy drugs for aggressive breast cancer: Their tumors were eliminated. But while there are dramatic successes with immunotherapy drugs, there are also many failures, and researchers are trying to find out why in hopes…
Keep reading
Coalition of Health Insurers Questions Viability of Connecticut Partnership Plan
Members of Connecticut’s Health Care Future, a coalition of health insurers, hospitals, and businesses, are questioning whether Connecticut lawmakers have done enough this year to protect teachers and municipal employees from increases in health insurance premiums. “Despite repeated bailouts from taxpayers, the Connecticut Partnership Plan continues to be a fiscal Titanic that demonstrates why government-controlled health…
Keep reading
AG’s Tackle Mental Health Parity
Attorneys General in Connecticut and Rhode Island threw their support Monday behind a coalition of mental health advocacy groups asking a federal appeals court to revisit a recent ruling giving insurance companies more flexibility to deny mental health claims.
Keep reading
Budget Green Lights Psychedelic Therapies
Buried in the budget Gov. Ned Lamont signed this week is a provision that would create a pilot program to allow Connecticut to be the first-in-the-nation to study the impact of psychedelic drugs like psilocybin and MDMA on patients with depression and PTSD. The budget now creates a pilot program within the Department of Mental…
Keep reading
Officials Highlight Effort To Boost Mental Health Services For Kids
At a Hartford-based community provider Wednesday, Gov. Ned Lamont and a handful of his agency commissioners highlighted the expected impact of more than $100 million in recently passed funding aimed at increasing behavioral health services for Connecticut children. The governor appeared at The Village for Families and Children, a recipient of new state funding included…
Keep reading