Many of the posts in our blog highlight specific nursing home and residential care facility issues as they relate to the legal world. These issues are important, but are better viewed through the perspective of the state of nursing homes in the United States in general. The general public sometimes does not realize how many of our nation's aging citizens are in nursing homes and what their living conditions may be like. The following paragraph serves to shed some light about nursing homes and their residents.
According to the Center for Disease Control (2004), there are over 16,000 nursing homes in the US, holding over 1.7 million beds. These homes are at an average capacity of 86%, which amounts to over 1.4 million residents. Additionally, the average length of admission is 835 days. That's over 2.5 years! The same survey also broke these numbers down by state. Unsurprisingly, Pennsylvania had high numbers of both total nursing homes and total number of beds (711 and 88,861 respectively) as of 2009.
This data was only expected to increase in numbers since the American population contains a large number of retiring and elderly citizens. With this in mind, it is important to research the many options available to your family if you are deciding to put a loved one into a nursing home. By gaining the most infomation possible, you can make the best decision to avoid elder abuse and other possible problems.
For more information on Attorney Doug Stoehr and his law firm, please visit our website at www.stoehrlaw.com or call us at (814) 946-4100.
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