How Many Indiana Nursing Homes Are Failing to Keep Residents Safe from COVID-19?
Nursing home residents living in Indiana long-term care facilities are recognized as Hoosiers who are some of the most vulnerable to injury and harm resulting from exposure to COVID-19. For more on their vulnerabilities and the correspondingly high duty of care imposed by law upon their caregivers to keep them safe, read our earlier discussion in “Coronavirus: Nursing Home Liability for COVID-19 Injuries in Illinois and Indiana.”
Tragically, it appears that many Indiana Nursing Home residents are falling victim to care facilities who are failing to meet that duty of care toward their frail and vulnerable charges. A shocking number of Hoosier Nursing Home residents are passing away because of exposure to the Coronavirus.
WRTV Expose: 47% of All Hoosier Coronavirus Deaths Are Indiana Nursing Home Residents
Last week, an Indianapolis news expose revealed horrific statistics for Coronavirus deaths. First, during the first three weeks of May 2020 (from May 4 to May 25), the number of Indiana nursing home residents who died from the Coronavirus more than doubled.
Even more shocking was the report’s final tallies of Indiana COVID-19 victims. As of this past Monday (May 25th), according to the reported Indiana COVID-19 fatalities released by the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH), forty-seven percent (47%) of those Coronavirus deaths involved people who lived in Indiana long-term care facilities.
As of May 25, 2020, WRTV investigators determined that almost HALF of all Indiana Coronavirus fatalities have been our nursing home residents.
Read: “Nursing Home Residents Account For 47% Of All COVID-19 Deaths in Indiana,” written by Katie Cox and published by WRTV – TheIndyChannel on May 25, 2020.
WRTV Online Indiana Coronavirus Nursing Home Spreadsheet
The WRTV expose includes a full online list of their nursing home data, which is being updated periodically in the future. The WRTV Spreadsheet can be searched by: (1) county name; (2) nursing home/care facility; (3) number of reported Coronavirus cases; and (4) number of reported deaths due to COVID-19.
Read the WRTV Indiana Nursing Home COVID-19 Fatality list here.
Secrets to Be Revealed About Indiana Nursing Home Deaths
WRTV has also explained why it is so difficult for nursing home residents and their loved ones to learn the risks involved in residing in an Indiana nursing home and long-term care facility at this time. It has not been possible for Hoosiers to learn how risky a particular nursing home might be for Coronavirus exposure, or if a loved one is residing in a nursing home with a known COVID-19 outbreak.
The WRTV investigators found the State of Indiana is providing only limited information to the general public, pointing to privacy laws limiting their ability to share information. All that the State officially provides is (1) the overall number of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 and (2) those who have died in Indiana long-term care facilities.
The WRTV investigators report that this will soon change. The federal government will release information on Coronavirus exposures and COVID-19 deaths in Indiana nursing homes at the end of May 2020.
Read: “Indiana nursing home death information to be made public despite state’s efforts: Federal government plans to publish by end of May,” written by Kara Kenney and published by WRTV- TheIndyChannel on May 26, 2020.
Families and Loved Ones Barred from Checking on Their Loved Ones
As we have discussed before, one of the key methods of protecting nursing home residents is the spot checks and unexpected visits by loved ones to make sure that the facility is doing right in the care and treatment of their clientele. With the COVID-19 outbreak, this has not been an option for families who are worried about their loved ones who live in an Indiana nursing home.
Nursing home visits are not allowed during the current Stay-at-Home Orders imposed by Governor Eric Holcomb. It is impossible for loved ones to find out first-hand the level of protection being provided in the nursing home care facility.
This means that families must try as best they can to gather information from the facility, get the scant reporting provided by the state, or consider taking their loved one out of the nursing home altogether. See, “Some Families Pull Loved Ones From Nursing Homes As Deaths, Cases Rise,” written by Kara Kinney and published by WRTV-TheIndyChannel on May 26, 2020.
Federal CMS Database: Indiana Nursing Home Deficiency Reports in May 2020
The federal government provides a free online database that reveals each state’s long-term care facilities enforcement records with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). For details, read our earlier discussion in “New Online Warning for Nursing Home Abuse or Neglect: Indiana and Illinois Both Rank “Bottom of the Barrel”.
As of Wednesday, May 27, 2020, 99 Indiana nursing homes received the lowest possible rating of “much below average.” Another 201 Indiana long-term care facilities having a “below average” overall rating.
Justice for COVID-19 Victims: Indiana Nursing Home Duty of Care to Residents
The state laws of Indiana, as well as federal statutes, define the duties of care that nursing homes and long-term care facilities must provide to their clients, who depend upon their services for their well-being. Indiana nursing homes are mandated to have established and standard plans for limiting infection in the facility at all times, as well as having plans for what they need to do in emergency situations, like the current Coronavirus Pandemic.
If the nursing home fails to meet these duties of care to protect residents from harm, and the resident is exposed to COVID-19, then the facilities’ owners and management may be legally liable for the harm that results to that resident (and perhaps their loved ones, as well).
Nursing homes understand that failures of their legal duties to take care of someone in their charge that can make them responsible for the harm suffered by a resident suffering from the Coronavirus.
In fact, the nursing home industry is working hard to get government action that shields them from their legal duties. So far, the Indiana Governor has not been willing to grant immunity to the Indiana nursing homes for COVID-19 breaches of duty of care.
For more on Coronavirus injuries in Indiana nursing homes, read:
- Nursing Home Lawsuits in Indiana and Illinois: Who Can Be Sued, and Why, for Elder Abuse or Neglect;
- Seeking Justice for Victims of Nursing Home Injuries in Indiana and Illinois.
It is horrific to think that Indiana nursing home residents are facing the highest risk of harm and instead of being kept safe, they are perishing from the Coronavirus in shockingly high fatality rates. Please be careful out there!
