This is going to be a long post—

I have worked in Long Term Care for 15 years. There are some bad apples. There is no denying that. That said, there are some fantastic facilities run by fantastic people. Great care provided by folks that are here because they love your family member and want them to be cared for properly. Go to the facility. Meet with leadership and tour the place. Take a look at the residents as you go around. You will be able to tell in a hurry if it’s a place you want your loved one to be. Are they smiling? Is staff interacting. Do staff members greet you as you walk through. General customer service toward an unknown visitor tells the story. You won’t run into a place that treats you well on an unexpected visit then turns around and systemically mistreats the residents. It is a people business so things won’t always be perfect. But you need to be able to relay concerns to the leadership team and trust that they will address and correct them.

But with all that said, I would like to touch on a couple of topics that have been brought up.

Evacuations—one company recently did a bad job at storm evacuation time….it was a mess and uncalled for certainly. Legislation has been passed that changes the planning and review process. I pride myself, as does my whole gang, on being ready for the unexpected. Our plans and and execution of them go off well every year, whether evacuating or sheltering in place. This is the case at nearly all facilities.

Lobby/moratorium—yes we have a strong lobby. We have to, otherwise our legislators would gut our industry. The public can’t expect elite care and facilities with bottom of the barrel funding. No business can provide adequate service with out adequate revenue. And the moratorium is a good thing for resident care. We are all short staffed. This goes back to before Covid and is significantly worse now. If you allowed facilities to pop up all over the place, you would have a bunch of half empty and even more poorly staffed buildings. Refer back to the revenue concerns above. Each parish has a number of beds allowed per need.

Chemical Restraint—-this just doesn’t happen any more. We are so regulated that it’s usually the opposite. I have families begging for us to increase medication to help manage behaviors issues, but regulations won’t allow it.

Cameras—the law passed requires the family to meet requirements to place the camera, including provision of separate internet access. This isn’t a facility decision. Regardless, in my professional opinion, if you feel you need a camera in room where the most personal of care occurs, you need to find another place. You have to be able to trust the facility, and we have to earn that trust.

Sorry for the long rant, but we always gets bashed when healthcare is discussed. We work so hard every day, 24 hours a day, to care for our residents. They are our family too. As in every business, there are good and bad apples. Take your time and find the right one. I’m in the BR area and would love to have you come by and visit.