Nursing homes deserve a Category 5 round of applause. Three years after two major hurricanes walloped the Gulf Coast and exposed a disjointed evacuation system, nursing homes and government agencies proved...
Singing the baby boomer blues
By
Liza Berger
Aug 26, 2008
So you think you’re a baby boomer? Try these characteristics on for size: -Being a boomer means 60 is the new 40.-You’ll probably live longer than your parents, only you’ll still be on a diet in...
The caregiver king
By
Liza Berger
Aug 21, 2008
Be nice to your employees. You never know when there might be royalty in your midst. That’s a lesson a nursing home in Harrisburg, PA, is not apt to forget. A certified nursing aide named Charles Wesley...
Readers agree nursing home survey system needs help
By
Liza Berger
Aug 15, 2008
Sometimes words or gestures capture a collective feeling or sensibility. That happened for long-term care this week when the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging released a report calling...
Nursing-home evictions raise bigger questions
By
Liza Berger
Aug 11, 2008
Some disturbing news appeared last week in The Wall Street Journal. The highly respected newspaper found that nursing homes are evicting long-term, frail residents—many on Medicaid—to make room for...
Star rating system: Expedia for nursing homes?
By
Liza Berger
Jun 20, 2008
Yes, you too could be the Four Seasons of nursing homes. As we all know by now, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services plans to create a five-star quality rating system for facilities (see stories...
Athlete is positive role model at age 82
By
Liza Berger
May 30, 2008
Here’s yet another story from the annals of preternaturally active older Americans: Bob Gralley, an 82-year-old resident of Oak Crest retirement community in Parkville, MD, recently completed the running...
National Nursing Home Week spoiler
By
Liza Berger
May 16, 2008
Saturday marks the conclusion of National Nursing Home Week – and providers might be breathing a sigh of relief that it is almost over. A week that is supposed to be celebratory was marred this year...
ManorCare panel: laudable gesture or lip service?
By
Liza Berger
May 13, 2008
Last Friday, I wrote about a new quality committee formed by HCR ManorCare. I immediately received some negative feedback about the company’s move. The Service Employees International Union was quick...
Sun’s Matros brings goodwill to New Orleans
By
James M. Berklan
Apr 30, 2008
It’s hard to find pure “feel-good” stories nowadays. Really hard. Maybe that’s why the latest brainstorm from Rick Matros is so, well, charming. Matros, of course, is the hip 50-something who likes...