Editorial: State regulators fall down on job

Despite state investigators uncovering new violations, the state Bureau of Licensure and Certification on July 29 recertified the Cheyenne Residential and Nursing Center to house Medicaid patients. The Sun's Art Nadler reported Wednesday that this is the fourth time since February that the center has been cited for violations by the state.

Some of the previous violations involved residents falling and breaking bones after trying to use their bed-call lights; another person woke up and found someone else sleeping in her bed; and some residents were found disoriented, wandering around the halls without supervision.

The latest violations state regulators didn't think were serious likely would disturb most people, especially the children and grandchildren who have loved ones in nursing homes. The Sun reported that some of these violations include:

-- The center didn't follow up on a nurse's report of a resident who threatened to commit suicide.

-- Four of its 18 employees weren't given background checks.

-- One resident, whose left shoulder was fractured, wasn't diagnosed and taken to a hospital for three days.

-- Another resident's high blood-sugar level wasn't being tracked.

Following an inspection in February, and until the nursing home was recertified in July, the state had been imposing a fine of $50 a day and preventing the center from admitting new residents who received Medicaid funding. Although the nursing home pledged in writing to bring itself into compliance, the new violations should have been enough to warrant a continued fine and a ban on new recipients receiving Medicaid, a significant sanction because most of the residents get Medicaid benefits.

Clinton is asking that Congress boost the money for nursing home inspections to $167 million for next year. But if the states get this additional funding, the public is going to demand that they not only identify violations, but also follow through and levy genuine sanctions. Nevada is not off to a good start.

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