Wallace Roberts
- 2014
Fellowship Title:
- Public Responsibility and Privatism in the U.S. Nursing Home Industry
Fellowship Year:
- 2014
The Death of a Black Nursing Home
PITTSBURGH, Penn.–Elaine Carrington moved into the Lemington Home for the Aged in Pittsburgh in November 2004. She died three weeks later of a blood clot in her lungs. An investigation by the state found that the staff had failed to give Carrington any of her 10 prescription drugs for 20 days before her death. The Pennsylvania Department of PublicWelfare (DPW) fined Lemington $8,100 and put the home on a three-month probation. In April 2005, Lemington filed for bankruptcy and in July of that year, shut its doors for good. A subsequent lawsuit watched by nonprofit nursing homes nationwide would finally be settled by a federal appeals court decision in January 2015. But what happened to Lemington is not uncommon. Researchers at Brown University found that more than 600 other nursing homes in African American, Hispanic and low-income neighborhoods also went bankrupt during this period. Their study examined the closings of more than 1,700 independent nursing homes between 1999-2009 and found that those located in largely ethinc and low-income communities were more likely to have been
Why Medicaid’s Racism Drove Historically-Black Nursing Home Bankrupt
PITTSBURGH, Penn.–On July 4, 1883, the Lemington Home for the Aged opened as a charity to house “aged and infirm colored women.” The first four residents included a former slave named Aunt Peggy. That began a 122 history of service that would end sadly due to questionable management and Medicaid rules historicaly stacked against low-income elders, especially those of color. Researchers at Brown University found that in recent years hundreds of other nursing homes in African American, Hispanic and low-income neighborhoods also went bankrupt. A Century of Growing Services In 1900, the Lemington Home’s new 33-bed facility was built in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood. In 1975, the the facility started a senior center, and in 1983, the board of directors purchased a 12-acre site near the top of one of Pittsburgh’s hills and built a three-story, 180-bed skilled nursing home. Over the next 20 years the facility added an 80-unit apartment complex, for independent senior citizens, and a 32 assisted-living residence. At its height, Lemington provided residential care and services for about 250 people