Families visiting their loved ones at more than one hundred ManorCare nursing homes in sixteen states across the nation this Mother’s Day will receive a carnation and a call to action from quality care advocates. The effort, the latest in a long-running campaign to improve care at Carlyle-ManorCare facilities, asks family members to call Carlyle co-founder and Managing Director David Rubenstein to demand better care. In addition, families will be urged to call their Senators to request Congress step take action to protect all nursing home residents.

“Mothers’ Day is when we’re all doing something special for our mothers,” said Erica McDuffie, a quality care advocate with SEIU. “Many of these family members coming to visit don’t know that their mom’s nursing home was bought out, and that they can make a difference to make mom’s home better.”

Carlyle, one of the nation’s largest private equity funds, purchased ManorCare nursing homes last December amidst promises of quality care, training for caregivers, and sufficient staffing, but since the buyout, it seems they may not be keeping all of those promises. Some homes have had sharp increases in the number of care deficiencies since being acquired, one home is now on a provisional operating license after a resident’s death, and caregivers working for better benefits and a fully-funded training program are fighting sharp company opposition.

The campaign led by the caregivers of SEIU Healthcare, the nation’s largest nursing home workers’ union, is asking Carlyle’s billionaire co-founder to make patient care a first priority at ManorCare by investing in front-line staff. Because Rubenstein is still resisting efforts, advocates are taking their case to Capitol Hill.

In an effort to address outdated nursing home regulations advocates are supporting U.S. Senate Bill 2641, the Nursing Home Transparency and Improvement Act. The bill would prevent companies like Carlyle from setting up multi-layered entities that make it difficult to determine who is really responsible for care and would prohibit the separation of real estate holdings from nursing home operations, which companies do to shield key property assets from liability for care problems. The Nursing Home Transparency and Improvement Act would take steps toward closing these loopholes, requiring companies to show who is ultimately responsible for care. Advocates expect similar legislation will be introduced in the House shortly.

Caregivers will be at nursing homes in twelve states during brunch hour this Sunday, May 11.

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BALTIMORE, MD — The sixty nursing home caregivers from across the nation who assembled in Baltimore this week have one thing in common: they’re sick of nursing homes letting workers and seniors down, and they’re ready to take the case for better staffing, training, and better care to the public. The group, SEIU Healthcare’s “Nursing Home Accountability Team,” chanted and handed out flyers during a Rubenstein speech at the SABEW Conference in Baltimore.

Rubenstein’s firm, the Carlyle Group, bought out ManorCare nursing homes last December. Carlyle had issued a “Patients First Pledge” that included providing training for caregivers, maintaining adequate staffing levels, and ensuring quality care.

Residents and caregivers point to recent care problems and problems at the bargaining table as evidence that Carlyle is not truly committed to its promises. One home in Davenport, IA was cited for more than 30 violations of regulatory standards in a recent inspection. Meanwhile, when caregivers in ManorCare’s Towson, MD facility fought for a fully-funded training program, the company fought back, offering a plan that would require caregivers, already struggling to make ends meet at their low hourly wages, to pay back some of the cost.

SEIU members at the Towson, MD 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.

Today’s action was part of a three-day focus on ManorCare’s broken promises. After two days of on-the-street actions to draw attention to Carlyle-ManorCare’s broken promises, the caregivers will take their case to Capitol Hill as they meet with their Senators and lobby for the passage of the Nursing Home Transparency and Improvement Act (S2641). The bill would update nursing home regulations to take account of the increasing number of large buyouts. It requires more disclosure of who owns each nursing home, who is ultimately responsible for the care at the home, and how taxpayer funding is being spent.

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