seattlep-i.com -- Crisis in Our Nursing Homes

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One in 10 Washington state nursing homes was penalized in 1999 for poor care of residents. Nearly two in 10 homes are in such dire financial shape that they've filed bankruptcy or closed their doors. Turnover rates for nursing home aides now top 100 percent a year.

This special report explores the causes of the crisis and its tragic effects.


	Fined A complete list of Washington state nursing homes fined from January 1996 to January 2000.

Most vulnerable at risk in nursing homes
This crisis in the industry -- fueled by government cuts and a booming economy -- is hitting as the very old have become the fastest-growing part of the nation's population. And advocates for our oldest and frailest say they are paying the price, sometimes with their lives.

Woman's death underscores family concerns
Terry Barquist's family will never know for sure if the grandmother of 10 would not have lost her legs if they had chosen a different nursing home. But state officials say there's been a disturbing increase in cases like Barquist's, in which understaffed nursing homes are ignoring signs that a resident's condition is deteriorating until the resident is in a medical crisis.

Bankruptcies have hurt care at nursing homes
Since 1998, nearly a fifth of the state's nursing homes have filed for bankruptcy or closed their doors. The economic crisis has forced about 200 fragile people to move and nearly 5,000 others to depend on stepped-up inspections by state regulators and ombudsmen to ensure that bare coffers aren't leading to skimpier meals or shorter staffs.

After injury, loss of wife, troubled home adds to pain
Thomas Reidy was paralyzed in a diving accident the same summer his wife was diagnosed with the cancer that killed her. For the last 11 months he has lived in a Burien nursing home, where he has twice been forced to call police in the middle of the night when he couldn't get staff to answer his calls for help. He is just one victim of the rash of bankruptcies that have affected care in more than 1,600 nursing homes in the nation.

Nursing home work is demanding, dangerous and often low-paying
Those who care for most of the elderly residents in nursing homes are mostly working-poor single moms, many fresh from the welfare rolls or newly arrived in America. Their work has become much harder in recent years as hospitals have pushed far sicker pateitns into nursing homes sooner.