A Frail System
Charles Pietrowski’s mother, Mary, fell and broke her hip at Sunrise Care Center in Milwaukee in January 2010. The nursing home did not report the incident to the Wisconsin health department, as required by law, and the state did not investigate the injury for more than seven months, the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism found. The state later determined that Pietrowski fell due to negligence.

Wisconsin nursing homes fail to report deaths, injuries

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Attorneys for families of residents say that facilities’ failure to report serious injuries or deaths related to abuse or neglect is not uncommon. Far more often, they say, the state health department only learns about a case of alleged neglect or abuse after a family member files a complaint. Advocates for health care providers stress that incidents of neglect and abuse are extremely rare, and can come to regulators’ attention in a variety of ways.

A Frail System

New state law conceals records of abuse, neglect in nursing homes

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A new Wisconsin law, which went into effect in February 2011, bars families from using state health investigation records in state civil suits filed against long-term providers, including nursing homes and hospices. It also makes such records inadmissible in criminal cases against health care providers accused of neglecting or abusing patients.