This week, an infection control group issued a new, more urgent message about employee vaccinations: Facilities should require flu vaccinations for workers with direct contact with patients. And employees...
Book revisits Hurricane Katrina and Mangano trial
By
Liza Berger
Aug 28, 2009
Tomorrow marks the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. A new book looks back at a nursing home tragedy that will forever be tied to that horrific natural disaster. “Watered-Down Truth: A Flood...
Healthcare to miss Kennedy
By
Liza Berger
Aug 26, 2009
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), who died late Tuesday at 77, shepherded pivotal healthcare legislation through Congress. His best accomplishment may have been yet to come, according to the leader of a major...
Longer life expectancy has an underside
By
Liza Berger
Aug 20, 2009
A child born in 2007 can expect to live to nearly 78, according to preliminary findings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of course, that is good news. Everyone should be entitled to...
Public reactions to healthcare reform depressing, disturbing
By
Liza Berger
Aug 19, 2009
I can’t help but cheer some comments Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) made on Tuesday. In his brash way of speaking, he summed up my sentiments exactly. On Tuesday during a town-hall meeting in his state,...
Book on long-term care tells it like it is
By
Liza Berger
Aug 14, 2009
A new book should be on the required reading list of novices and season veterans of long-term care. It is called “Caring for our Parents: Inspiring Stories of Families Seeking New Solutions to America’s...
Profile: Winthrop F. Marshall, Chairman-elect, American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging
By
Liza Berger
Aug 01, 2009
In November, Winthrop “Win” Marshall’s three children will install him as the next chair of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging.
Seniors take Medicare cuts seriously
By
Liza Berger
Aug 11, 2009
Lawmakers should have seen it coming. When they proposed cutting Medicare by the billions over the next decade they should have suspected that seniors would rise up to protest. And that’s exactly what...
Judge facilities on an individual basis
By
Liza Berger
Aug 07, 2009
A significant and perhaps somewhat controversial piece of research was released this week suggesting that not-for-profit nursing homes offer higher quality care overall than for-profits. That’s great...
No vacation time for nursing homes this month
By
Liza Berger
Aug 04, 2009
It’s the lazy month of August—and time to get busy. That is, if you’re a nursing home association. Instead of sitting in hammocks idling away the hours, members of the two major lobbying groups will...