Pennsylvania Health Secretary Issues Statement on Attorney General's Lawsuit Against Nursing Home Chain

HARRISBURG, Pa., July 1, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Secretary of Health Karen Murphy said she was deeply concerned by the allegations of inadequate care in 12 nursing homes operated by Golden Senior Living identified in the lawsuit filed on Wednesday by Attorney General Kathleen Kane.

"The Department of Health takes very seriously its duty to protect the health of the general public, especially vulnerable individuals residing in nursing care facilities," said Murphy. "To that end, the Department will accelerate its current efforts to evaluate our Regulatory processes in order to determine what additional measures can be taken to ensure enhanced quality in the future."

Murphy said she has also engaged Auditor General Eugene DePasquale in a cooperative effort to audit the policies and procedures already in place in the Department of Health to recommend ways the department can improve how it enforces its statutory enforcement authority.

The Department also will:

• Form a Pennsylvania Nursing Home Quality Improvement Task Force. The task force, comprised of experts and stakeholders in long term care, will be charged with advancing quality improvement in long term care facilities.
• Establish an interagency work team on long-term care to identify strategies that expand communication between various long-term care programs and ensure complaints from consumers are addressed and resolved by the proper department.

As part of its regulatory and licensure responsibilities, the Department of Health inspects 704 nursing homes across the state with a total of 88,070 beds on an annual basis and additionally if complaints are filed.

MEDIA CONTACT: Amy Worden, DOH, 717-787-1783

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Health

Related Links

http://www.state.pa.us