In response to scrutiny from residents, lawmakers, and advocates, Carlyle this week announced the formation of a three member "independent" committee to advise the company regarding quality of care.  Carlyle-ManorCare's decision to refer the issue of quality to a committee falls far short of the real and immediate action needed to improve the quality of care for its residents.

Although Carlyle describes its committee as "independent," committee members include Gail Wilensky, who served on the ManorCare Board of Directors as recently as last year and who received a one-day windfall of more than $1 million as a result of the transaction, according to ManorCare's SEC filings.  A few months ago, Wilensky also appears to have served simultaneously on the ManorCare Board and as Vice-Chair of the Maryland Health Care Commission-- a state regulatory body that issued approvals Carlyle needed to complete its buyout of ManorCare.

The Carlyle-ManorCare press release lauding the "independence" of its new committee makes no mention of connections between Wilensky, the company, and the Carlyle buyout.

Michigan lawmakers held a hearing on Thursday to examine concerns related to private equity ownership of nursing homes.  Though lawmakers made inquiries to Carlyle about care issues, Carlyle ducked and instead sent a ManorCare representative to testify at the hearing.

State Representative Kathy Angerer (D-Dundee), Chair of the House Health Policy Committee, said that Carlyle's failure to attend raised "troubling questions" about its responsiveness and accountability.

ManorCare's Michigan facilities continue to rack up violations of patient care standards under Carlyle's ownership.  At one facility, Heartland Health Care of Jackson, the number of violated standards increased from 5 to 18 during the most recent regular survey inspection- a jump of 260%. 

Read about the hearing on Lansing's TV 6.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has delayed proceedings in a case to decide who will represent employees at one Michigan ManorCare home, citing "reasonable cause to believe" that management may have threatened or coerced employees in violation of their rights under federal law.  In a letter dated May 6, 2008, NLRB Region 7 concludes that because management's alleged unlawful actions could undermine "the free choice of employees," no representation proceeding can go forward until they are remedied.

An NLRB complaint dated April 30, 2008 charges that officials at the Michigan ManorCare facility, Hearland Health Care Center UNiversity, "coerively interrogated employees about their union views, threatened employees with adverse aciton for engaging in protected activities, and directed employees to sign an anti-union petition- all alleged violations of federal law.

SEIU condemns the unlawful conduct alleged in the NLRB's complaint.  Carlyle-ManorCare's time and resources should be spent providing quality care to seniors, not on a wasteful campaign against employees' federally protected right to choose a union.

 

More than 60 nursing home caregivers from across the nation met with a dozen Senators or their staff, sharing their experiences working the front-line of nursing homes and asking the Senators to co-sponsor the Nursing Home Transparency and Improvement Act (S2641).

The bill would require better disclosure of who owns a nursing home and who is ultimately responsible for the quality of care, both of which are difficult to determine when buyout firms set up layer upon layer of business entities to run nursing homes. The bill also requires more disclosure about staffing levels and how public nursing home funds are spent, making it easier to taxpayers and nursing home residents to tell when public funds that should go to care are instead lining corporate coffers.

Call your Senators now! Ask them to co-sponsor the Nursing Home Transparency and Improvement Act, S2641.

More than 60 caregivers unite to call for a quality care contract that includes training, affordable family health care coverage. 

BALTIMORE, MD — SEIU members at the Towson, MD ManorCare facility have been working without a contract for months, struggling to negotiate for better wages, a training fund, affordable family health care, and a better pension plan. Their fight underlines Carlyle-ManorCare’s reluctance to invest real money in improving front-line conditions, so that Manor Care homes can attract and retain the stable, high-quality staff needed to provide the highest quality care.

Picketers called for Carlyle-ManorCare to keep its promises. Carlyle had issued a “Patients First Pledge” that included promises of providing training for caregivers, maintaining adequate staffing levels, and ensuring quality care.

Read the coverage on Baltimore's ABC 2.

Read Carlyle's "Quality Patient Care Pledge" (PDF)