Okla. to hire more surveyors.

Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating has signed a general appropriations bill that gives the state's Department of Health $200,000 to hire 34 additional nursing home inspectors. Health department officials and nursing home operators agree that the additional surveyors are needed desperately.

Ratios of inspectors to nursing homes vary widely from state to state. Florida has 233 inspectors for 680 nursing homes--roughly one inspector for every three facilities. Illinois has 234 inspectors to oversee 1,359 nursing homes, Randy Hertzer, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Health, says that 179 inspectors is an adequate number for Ohio's 1,000 nursing homes. "Of course it would be nice to have more," says Hertzer. "But we're having trouble filling 13 vacancies."

According to Peggy Wiebener, Oklahoma Department of Health deputy commissioner for nursing home oversight, the previous cap of 69 inspectors was inadequate to cover the state's 400-plus facilities. Complaints to the Oklahoma health department concerning nursing homes have quadrupled in the past year to around 20 a day, and more than 800 cases have yet to be investigated.

"[State surveyors] are not meeting their time frames," says Rebecca Moore, executive director of the Nursing Home Association of Oklahoma. "Once they get the additional inspectors and get them trained, it should at least assist with the workload problems they've been having."

Moore points out that, despite the increase in complaints, a recent health department consumer survey found that 80 percent of 4,000 respondents are satisfied with the level of care provided in Oklahoma nursing homes.

Wiebener confirms that nursing facilities' own incident reports are included in the complaint count.

Increased public awareness

Long term care industry leaders and health department officials say that the number of complaints also reflects heightened public awareness of how and where to report nursing home problems, and that consumers may be more confident that their voices will be heard. Complaints have been on the rise since May 2000, when a bribery scandal erupted involving Brent VanMeter, former health department deputy director, and nursing home owner-operator James R. Smart. (See "Okla. SNF owner, state official guilty of bribery," January 2001 CLTC, page 12.) Both men are now serving three-year terms in federal prison. Further investigations led to the firing of several officials from the Oklahoma Department of Health.

Wiebener adds that the 34 additional nursing home inspectors will give the health department a much-needed reinforcement.