From press release:
Patricia Blank of Shell Rock, Iowa, will testify Wednesday at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on protecting Americans from abuse and neglect in nursing homes. Blank’s mother, Virginia Olthoff, was allegedly left in severe pain and may not have had any water for days before her death while in the care of a nursing home. That nursing home received the highest possible ranking from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for quality of resident care, though it had been fined for physical and verbal abuse a year before Olthoff’s death.
“How a place with the highest possible rating could yield such a tragic incident is just outrageous. Things need to change, both for the standards at care facilities and for how CMS rates them. When American families consider where their loved ones can get the care they need, they should be able to rely on CMS information. That’s clearly not the case right now,” Grassley said. “Ms. Blank will give the committee important insight into what needs to be done and CMS will update us on the progress it’s making to help families like hers.”
Read more about Olthoff HERE, HERE and HERE. An updated notice for Wednesday’s hearing can be found below and witness information follows.
