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Information on Kentucky Nursing Homes:

Long-term care is made up mostly of facilities that take care of the elderly, such as nursing homes There are some 300 nursing homes in Kentucky – most of them for-profit ventures with many owned by big corporations. The remainder are not-for-profit facilities, many of them owned by religious organizations.

In addition to the nursing homes providing skilled and intermediate care, there are also assisted living facilities, personal care homes, and some family care homes, usually mom-and-pop operations taking care of only a few residents.

There are about 23,000 people in nursing homes in Kentucky. About half of the residents have some kind of dementia such as Alzheimer’s disease.

About 70 percent of Kentuckians in nursing homes are supported by the Medicaid program. Combined federal-state Medicaid payments to nursing homes in the 2005 state fiscal year amounted to more than $640 million.

Nursing homes are regulated by the state. Inspectors from the Kentucky Office of the Inspector General visit the facilities every nine to 15 months to assess the quality of the care being given. There also are other instances when inspectors are called to a facility to check on a problem. Results of these inspections and other information about all the nursing homes in Kentucky can be found on-line at www.medicare.gov/NHCompare

 On the statewide level, a relatively new organization, KENTUCKIANS FOR NURSING HOME REFORM, works to educate the public on the problems in long-term care and to advocate for better quality care in both the state legislature and the U.S. Congress. You may find this organization on-line at http://www.KyNursingHomeReform.org or by calling (859) 312-5617.

To report problems in nursing homes, citizens may call the local office of Adult Protective Services or the Office of the State Inspector General at (502) 564-7963. The state Attorney General has a toll-free number to report elder abuse at 1-877-228-7384.

Sadly, half of the residents of most nursing homes in Kentucky and nationwide have no regular visitors.