Welcome to The Press Room, a semi-regular weekly roundup of the major stories and happenings in Delaware politics.
This week’s edition focuses on Delaware Online/The News Journal’s investigation into assisted living facilities and how the state has failed to police these facilities for years.
As always, send story tips, feedback, ideas or gossip to me at mnewman@delawareonline.com.
How Delaware failed to inspect assisted living facilities
Last week, I published an investigation that has been in the works for many months: I found that Delaware has failed to regularly inspect assisted living facilities throughout the past decade, even when these places had high numbers of abuse, neglect and falls reported to the state.
Unlike nursing homes, assisted living facilities are regulated solely by the state. I found that state surveyors had not inspected many of these assisted living communities for years, according to hundreds of pages of inspection reports from 2013 to 2022.
Lawmakers also weakened regulations and continued to underfund the division responsible for oversight.
Six families spoke to me for this story, all of whom had experiences at the facility Arden Courts. Three have filed lawsuits against Arden Courts in the past year, all claiming abuse and neglect led to their respective mothers’ deaths.
“I’ll never have my mother back,” one of the family member told me. “My brother and I were charged with a duty to protect my mother and we thought we were. And that’s what makes it hurt even more.”
The three other families criticized the quality of care provided by Arden Courts. They say they found their loved ones soaked in urine and severely dehydrated, among other serious issues.
Arden Courts declined to answer The News Journal’s questions, citing residents’ privacy concerns. In a statement, the facility said it “strives to create a safe and secure environment for all our residents and is committed to ensuring their emotional and physical well-being.”
This reporting comes at a time when the state is debating how, if at all, regulations should be changed. The state has not made substantial changes to how assisted living facilities are regulated in decades.
Experts, former state officials and advocates told me the current rules are outdated to the current needs of assisting living residents. This wording, experts and advocates say, can be at times vague and likely allows for a wide variability in the types and quality of dementia care these facilities offer.
How to investigate assisted living facilities yourself
One of the most significant types of documents I’ve relied on for this type of reporting is inspection reports of assisted living facilities.
While these inspections represent a snapshot in time, the observations state surveyors make in these long-term care facilities can show key patterns.
I submitted a Freedom of Information Act request through the Division of Health Care Quality for all assisted living facility inspections that took place from 2013 to 2022. It resulted in more than 140 reports and hundreds of pages of documents.
The News Journal has organized all of the inspection reports into a searchable database, providing a comprehensive look at inspection reports from the past decade. (If you’re interested in looking at inspection reports for nursing homes, I recommend heading to the federal government’s website medicare.gov/care-compare.)
It’s important to note: A number of these facilities have opened or closed sometime in the last decade, which is why there might not be inspection reports for certain years. Many also changed their names. In about one-third of the inspections, facilities were not cited for any deficiencies.
Help me keep reporting on assisted living facilities in Delaware
If your family has an experience with a Delaware assisted living facility, you can fill out this form to tell me more. You can also contact me directly at mnewman@delawareonline or at 302-256-2466.
