Nursing home inspector holding a clipboard
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Just 51% of nursing home complaints filed with New York’s Department of Health have been closed since the COVID-19 pandemic after the agency reported an 87% closure rate in the two years prior, according to a new report.  

The findings come after an investigation found that more than 35,600 nursing home complaints were filed during the pandemic’s first two years — with more than 49% of them still being unresolved as ongoing investigations. Just 4% of cases have been substantiated, The Journal News reported. 

The issue has resulted in resident advocates and workers calling on officials to release more details about nursing home complaints and the state’s response. 

New York’s nursing home complaints backlog is only one example of a trend occurring throughout the United States, according to Linda Elizaitis, RN, president of CMS Compliance Group, Inc. a New York-based regulatory compliance consulting firm.

“The COVID-19 [public health emergency] had an effect on each state health department’s ability to conduct timely follow-up on reported complaints, including facility self-reported and resident/family called-in complaints,” she told McKnight’s Long-Term Care News on Monday.  “Surveyors were instructed to focus on completing mandated Infection Control Surveys (FIC) and routine recertification surveys were temporarily suspended.” 

Elizaitis said during recertification surveys, there are typically a number of complaints that are included in the survey process for follow-up investigations, and the delay in conducting those surveys has definitely contributed to the backlog of complaints being seen now. 

“One can also couple state agencies losing surveyors to retirement and/or wanting to leave the healthcare sector with, in many instances, not having had sufficient staff for years to conduct routine survey-related activities,” she said. 

Elizaitis added that providers, who report complaints and incidents as per regulation, are also frustrated with the lack of timeliness in closing out self-reported events or allegations made by a resident or family member. She said facilities are also struggling with staffing concerns but are still expected to provide quality care and be compliant with federal regulations, including reporting and investigating complaints. 

“Some of my clients do not feel that they are being treated fairly regarding these late investigations, especially when they have worked harder than ever in the last few years to maintain regulatory compliance,” she said. “Healthcare providers have also faced, and continue to face, staffing concerns and a surveyor entering their facility to investigate a complaint that may be several years old does not always seem to be a fair process.”