AARP: Texas nursing homes in 'shamefully poor' condition

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Wednesday, January 25, 2017
AARP report shows lax nursing home regulation
An AARP report shows that Texas state officials took enforcement action in only 40 of more than 17,000 reported nursing home violations in 2015.

AUSTIN, TX (KTRK) -- A blistering new report criticizes the state government's response to the more than 17,000 reported nursing home violations in 2015.

According to AARP Texas, nursing homes across the state were cited for 17,466 violations in fiscal year 2015, but only took enforcement action in 40 of those cases.

The report also says that Windsor Houston Nursing and Rehabilitation Center was cited for 57 violations, including 13 that results in harm or immediate jeopardy of residents' safety. The state, however, did not fine that Windsor facility for any of those violations.

The facility is now under new management, and it says it has no new violations.

"When making the difficult decision to place a loved one in a nursing home, family members deserve to know that the facility is adequately regulated to ensure their loved one is safe and well cared for," AARP Texas Director Bob Jackson said in a news release. "In Texas today, those assurances do not exist."

AARP says that 93,000 Texans reside in 1,200 nursing facilities across the state. The full Intolerable Care report is available on AARP.org.