BUFFALO, N.Y. — So many families rely on nursing homes to keep their loved ones safe.
But a new report says Western New York has some of the worst nursing homes in the country.
"The system itself is increasingly tailored towards protecting the industry in too many cases than it is to protecting residents," said Richard Mollot, the executive director of the Long Term Care Community Coalition, a downstate nonprofit.
Mollot says his organization found that 16 of the worst nursing homes in the country are located right here, in Western New York.
"There are a high number of facilities in the area that are really clearly providing substandard care," Mollot said.
The Coalition points out in its report which nursing homes across the country are the lowest-ranked according to federal nursing homes standards, which reflect staffing levels, inspection results, and quality.
"The ratings system is really useful in identifying facilities that are known to have a poor quality of care," Mollot said.
Local nursing homes that are named include Buffalo Community Healthcare Center and Ellicott Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing, both of which are in Buffalo, and Safire Rehabilitation of Northtowns, located in the Town of Tonawanda.
The researchers who worked this report hope the data leads to change.
"What we encourage family members and residents who are able to do is to raise these issues with the administration, raise these issues with the caregiver, let them know that you want to see change happen," Mollot said.
2 On Your Side called every one of these 16 nursing homes, to give them the opportunity to respond to these rankings.
Only one of them got back to us with a statement. Safire Rehabilitation said: "Sapphire Northtowns recently received an excellent survey from the New York State Department of Health. We continue to strive to provide excellence in patient centered care."
We also received this statement from Buffalo Center/Ellicott Center:
"Buffalo Center and Ellicott Center, part of the Centers Health Care family, continue to improve at providing care for both our short-term and long-term residents and, as a result, we have invested in our ability to measure clinical outcomes via a system called the Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation or UDSMR. UDSMR is a not–for–profit organization affiliated with the University at Buffalo' The State University of New York. Since its inception in 1987' UDSMR has provided the most comprehensive rehabilitation data to the industry and it is the same system that is utilized by most of the top rehabilitation hospitals in the United States. It serves as the benchmark for how effective a rehabilitation teams are at achieving functional improvement. Dr. Carl V. Granger' Founder of both UDSMR and the Center for Functional Assessment Research' is the father of The FIM System®. According to our latest results, both Buffalo Center and Ellicott Center place in the 95th percentile for improving independence amongst the patients that we care for as compared to other Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs) throughout the country. The bottom line is that patients come to Buffalo and Ellicott Center so they can get better, go home or get back to a better lifestyle, on a course to the best quality of life available."
Here are the 16 nursing homes that were named in the report:
- Jennie B. Richmond Nursing Home in Springville
- Cuba Memorial Hospital
- The Pines Healthcare and Rehab Center in Olean
- Premier Genesee Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation, Batavia
- Absolut Center for Nursing & Rehab Aurora Park LLC, East Aurora
- Absolut Center for Nursing & Rehab Orchard Park LLC, Orchard Park
- Newfane Rehab & Health Care Center, Niagara County
- Safire Rehabilitation of Northtowns LLC, Tonawanda
- Safire Rehabilitation of Southtown LLC, Buffalo
- Ellicott Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing, Buffalo
- Buffalo Community Healthcare Center, Buffalo
- Buffalo Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing, Buffalo
- Comprehensive Rehab & Nursing Center, Williamsville
- Williamsville Suburban LLC, Williamsville
- Niagara Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, Niagara Falls
- The Villages of Orleans Health and Rehab Center, Albion