Are private equity companies ruining Virginia nursing homes?

It is always disturbing to think of nursing homes as an investment opportunity, but to many individuals and companies that is exactly what they are – just another investment.  A recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reveals the extent that private equity firms have penetrated the nursing home industry.

 

Over the last ten years, ten main private equity firms have bought other companies and are now in control of 20 percent of for-profit nursing homes in the United States.  The GAO has not completed an investigation into the impact this has on nursing home quality of care, however there are other concerns.

 

It was very difficult for the GAO to trace ownership back to the private equity firms involved.  For example, they found that three of the six firms reviewed were not listed as owners of nursing homes they had purchased.  In other cases, equity firms were not listed as the owner of all their homes, but they were on some.

 

Why is it so important that the owners of a nursing home be known?  Accountability.  If the government can’t even figure out what companies own which nursing homes, what hope do state officials or concerned family members have of getting justice after an abuse or neglect case?

 

At the end of the report the GAO recommended that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) consider requiring that nursing home ownership structures be clearer.  HHS agreed, which is good, because this needs to happen.