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BY JERRY DAVICH
jdavich@nwitimes.com
219.933.3376 | Tuesday, February 22, 2005 | (No comments posted.)
A pending state Senate bill has the possibility of fixing flaws in the long-term care industry by mandating coroner investigations in all nursing home deaths.
It also has the possibility of adding one more questionable regulation to an industry that some say already is mummified in bureaucratic red tape.
Senate Bill 65, which now is in a legislative committee, would require health facility administrators to report the death of a resident to the county coroner's office, regardless of whether it's an apparent wrongful death case.
Coroners now are notified only in cases of alleged abuse, neglect or suspicious death.
If passed, the bill would go into effect July 1. The bill was coauthored by state Sen. Joe Zakas, R-Granger, who authored the Amber Alert legislation in Indiana.
Long-term care ombudsmen are clearly in support of the bill, noting that it's the first time any such bill has been introduced in Indiana.
"Hospitals have for several years been required to report all deaths to the coroner, who determines whether to do a more intensive review, investigation or autopsy," said Arlene Franklin, Indiana state ombudsman.
Since 1999, Arkansas has required this reporting from nursing homes, she said.
According to one Arkansas county coroner's reports, 86 cases of suspected
neglect were referred to the state during a four-year period. Yet the 86 referrals comprised just 2.2 percent of all nursing home deaths the coroner investigated.
Supporters of the bill also include Crown Point attorney Donald Wruck III, who has represented several families of nursing home residents who have died from alleged abuse or neglect. Wruck said a timely and independent coroner investigation otherwise would not occur in many questionable death cases.
On the flip side, Lee Seflers said the bill's intent merely is playing on the fears of families with loved ones in nursing homes, riddled with the stigmatized suspicions of rampant abuse or neglect.
"This is just another regulation, keeping me away from doing what first got me impassioned about this business -- caring for people," said Seflers, administrator of Whispering Pines Health Care Center in Valparaiso.
Most elderly residents entering nursing homes, she said, already have signed "do not resuscitate" orders, also signed by their doctor, in case they go into cardiac arrest or support system failure.
"All we can do sometimes is hold their hands and be beside them," she said.
Also, some families don't want to pursue a drawn-out investigation or invasive autopsy, claiming that "mom already suffered enough," said Christopher Herrmann, this region's long-term care ombudsman.
Whether or not the bill gets passed, Herrmann said, a concerned family can ask for an investigation by complaining to agencies like the Indiana State Department of Health, the state Attorney General's office, the local Adult Protective Services office and the county coroner's office.
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