Times stings N.Y. nursing homes, Pataki. (State Side).Nearly a dozen New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. nursing homes were stung by a recent New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times article which alleged that some facilities violated the civil rights of mentally ill residents by keeping them isolated and locked in. But some New York health care experts wonder if the real target of the Oct. 6 story, "Mentally Ill, and Locked Away in Nursing Homes," was Republican Gov. George Pataki George Elmer Pataki (born June 24, 1945) is an American politician who was the 57th Governor of New York serving from January 1995 until January 1, 2007. He is a member of the Republican Party and was seen as a possible 2000 and 2008 Presidential candidate. , no favorite of the Times and running for reelection re·e·lect also re-e·lect tr.v. re·e·lect·ed, re·e·lect·ing, re·e·lects To elect again. re in November. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the Times, as many as 1,000 New York mental patients were released from state psychiatric hospitals in recent years only to be locked away in about a dozen special units of nursing homes for the elderly. The Times put it this way: "The Pataki administration approved the creation of the special units for the mentally ill in 1996, but has otherwise left them unregulated. The nursing homes generally lack mental health expertise, and have not sought licenses to operate locked floors." Pataki has declined comment on the article. The Times also reported that the mental patients--many in their 30s and 40s, physically healthy and all non-violent--are provided little contact with the outside. They are barred from leaving their units alone and have few resources to contest their confinement. The Times cited examples of units with locked elevators, fire doors with alarms, windows broken by patients trying to leave, and the use of electronic bracelets that trigger an alarm if a patient tries to leave. Nursing home workers told the Times that residents were warned not to leave the building alone. Nursing homes named in the Times story declined comment for this article. The Justice Department promised to investigate. No findings have yet been announced. Government officials and nursing home operators responded to the Times claims that residents were locked in, saying that the alarmed fire doors and locked elevators are typical security measures Noun 1. security measures - measures taken as a precaution against theft or espionage or sabotage etc.; "military security has been stepped up since the recent uprising" security in many buildings and do not require special licensing. State Health Commissioner Dr. Antonia Novello Antonia Coello Novello (born Antonia Coello, August 23, 1944 in Fajardo, Puerto Rico), served as the United States Surgeon General from 1990 to 1993. Novello received her B.S. degree from the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras in 1965 and her M.D. and other health officials responded to Times' allegations, saying that the units were routinely inspected and found appropriate. They said that the units did not need additional regulations. |
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