One way that families may try to draw attention to the problems in a nursing home is to talk to the media. Putting public pressure on a nursing home can get them to clean up their act, or uncover evidence that can be used in a later lawsuit.
One nursing home in Minnesota got a taste of this after someone called Valley News Live’s whistleblower hotline. The station pulled the public inspection record of the facility and found that the number of violations there was nearly triple the state average and covered a broad range of failures in their duty to care. One patient was even sent to the hospital due to a drug overdose.
They went to the nursing home to get some answers and talk with the residents, but the nursing facility stonewalled them by saying there was an outbreak of illness at the facility and the residents were locked down. The news station later received a formal response from the facility to answer their questions, but they only got to talk to the patient via phone. She reported an incident where she tripped on an emergency cord and laid on the floor for an hour and a half before help came.
Talking with the media is one strategy to expose the problems at a nursing home. Talking to a personal injury attorney that specializes in nursing home abuse is another. Call Schenk Smith Trial Attorneys for a free consultation.
