Facility management

Trying a place on for size

One stand-alone CCRC invites prospective residents to be their guest as part of larger resident-driven marketing efforts.  Read More »

Staffing and quality

New approaches to staffing and scheduling can improve safety, raise quality and encourage employees to work better together. Read More »

Animal comforts

Aminals have a special power to connect with seniors, including those whose dementia makes it hard for them to communicate. Furry, fuzzy and feathered assistants help their human counterparts engage residents with company and comfort near the end of life. Read More »

Genesis Healthcare reaches $52.7 million settlement

Genesis Healthcare has reached an agreement in principal on settlement terms for four separate U.S. Department of Justice investigations in the amount of $52.7 million, to be paid in a five-year period.  Read More »

Wanted: A room of my own

Blogger Kathleen Mears lives in a semi-private room but prefers to live alone. She’s been lucky to have a room to herself but knows it’s a matter of time when, not if, she’ll get a roommate. Read More »

Study: At CCRCs, CNA wages still dragging behind other caregivers

Certified nurse aides salaries are, on average, increasing but at a slower rate than their salaried co-workers and supervisors, according to the latest Continuing Care and Retirement Community Salary & Benefits Report. Read More »

Teaching family how to be caregivers

The Oklahoma Healthy Aging Initiative is offering workshops to teach family caregivers how to care of an older adult and communicate with healthcare providers. Read More »

AL placement company exands C-suite to match demand

Hand in Hand Elder Care is bringing in back up to help with growing referrals as company expands senior living placement offerings. Read More »

Van Dyk Health Care expands primary care services

The New Jersey-based provider hired its first nurse practitioner to help patients stay healthy and in their own home.  Read More »

The cost of payroll-based journal reporting adding up fast

Skilled nursing facilities are quickly finding the Payroll-Based Journal Reporting, mandated timekeeping regulations from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, are more time-consuming than anticipated. Read More »

Benchmark Senior Living creates new VP of sales and operations

The newly-created executive Vice President of sales and operations position is part of a larger effort to adopt a customer-centered approach to sales. Read More »

Leftover medications

The new Drug Enforcement Agency rules on medication reclamation and disposal protocols have been out since October 2014, but some nursing homes are still using improper methods to deal with unused or expired medications. Read More »

Paramedics struggle to navigate end-of-life care decisions

Unclear or incomplete documentation of end-of-life care choices makes a paramedic’s job even harder, especially when transferring residents from a nursing home to the hospital, says a British explorative paper. How much training are you giving residents and families on the importance of a POLST form? Read More »

ALF license revoked for violations and risk to residents

State health officials have suspended an assisted living facility’s operating license for two of its buildings. The facility has received dozens of deficiencies and reports of two resident falls in the last six months. Read More »

New overtime rules come with hefty price tag

The long-term care industry may be hard hit by the Department of Labor’s new Overtime Exemption Rule, which will make certain workers who earn less than $48,000 a year eligible for overtime pay.  Read More »

Brookdale exec VP to step down

Glenn Maul will step down as executive vice president and chief people of Brookdale Senior Living Inc. by July 15.  Read More »

Assisted living from an international perspective

Conferences are always a source for inspiration for what's to come. Long-Term Living spoke with two attendees who came from Chile to attend the Argentum Senior Living Executive conference and learn how to improve long-term care. Read More »

10 ways to serve a diverse population

Diversity is more than a buzzword or a fad. It's a movement to be more accepting and inclusive. In order to serve a diverse population, members must first be treated as individuals.  Read More »

MedOptions acquires Vericare

The acquisition creates a national provider of behavioral health services to long-term care facilities. Read More »

6 ways to avoid meaningless meetings

Does your staff groan when it’s time for yet another meeting? Try these strategies to put your meetings back on the fast track—and get your staff back to work. Read More »

CMS imposes fines of more than $278k for Woodbriar Health Center

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has imposed steep fines and threatened to terminate Woodbriar Health Center from its programs if serious problems are not resolved by next week. Read More »

Training went unheeded at Woodbriar Health Center, say Mass. regulators

Employees at Woodbriar Health Center were retrained on falls-related injuries following the death of a resident, according to a revised plan submitted to the Massachusetts Department of Public Helath. The department says the second fall-related resident death is the result of deficient care.  Read More »

Case Study: Assistive services bridging the gap

Sometimes a bit of help and some occasional services are all seniors need to retain independence a little longer—and stay out of a higher level of care. Read how one senior living organization’s idea for boutique services changed its residents’ lives in just two years. Read More »

FBI investigates hospice owner for overmedicating, Medicare fraud

The FBI is looking into claims the 34-year old accountant himself chose which home healthcare patients would be moved to hospice, recruited unqualified patients and charged the government for services not medically necessary. Read More »

Bad news not necessarily bad for employee engagement

Administrators and executives, take note. Bad news doesn’t have to make employees feel blue, or worse, damper engagement and morale. The way people feel and react to news depends on how the information is presented.  Read More »

Woodbriar residents in ‘immediate jeopardy,’ say Mass. regulators

In the course of an investigation of a resident's death, state regulators determined substandard care resulted in a second resident death and resident fall at Woodbriar Health Center, the latest in a mounting citation list for owner Synergy Health Centers. Read More »

Fla. regulators issue orders of suspension for CCRC

The Office of Insurance Regulation has issued two initial orders of suspension for a Tampa Bay, Fla., continuing care retirement community (CCRC), alleging the facility was acquired illegally and owes more than $4 million in refunds to residents, among other claims.  Read More »

Woodbriar’s plan to address resident death unacceptable, say Mass. state regulators

Woodbriar Health Center must resubmit a plan to the state health department. The facility, owned by Synergy Health, has been making headlines for a resident’s death, scabies outbreak and substandard care. Read More »