As part of a five-month investigation, FairWarning reviewed inspection reports and federal data on nursing homes. They also interviewed several nursing home residents and long-term care experts.
Last year, 33 percent of nursing homes received citations for violating safety requirements regarding food storage, preparation and service. Unsafe food handling represented the third most common violation nursing homes were cited for last year, behind infection control issues and patient accidents, according to CMS data.
Between 1998 and 2017, 230 outbreaks of foodborne illness have occurred in long-term care facilities, sickening 7,648 residents. Fifty-four people died and 532 required hospitalizations over that time period.
“It’s an accepted practice to have crappy conditions in the kitchen … and people are just totally unaware of it,” Charlene Harrington, PhD, RN, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco who studies nursing home quality, told FairWarning.
To view the full report, click here.
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