Contemporary Long Term Care articles from January 2000

Contemporary Long Term Care archives from January 2000

Stories to tell.(long term care chronicles)
January 1, 2000... BY THE TIME YOU READ THIS, WE'LL all have arrived in the year 2000 Like me, you probably will have faced the media's onslaught of retrospectives; the best and worst of the past year, century, millennium will have all flashed before you--like it...

Congress spells relief.(Medicare, Medicaid and SCIP Balanced Budget Refinement Act of 1999)
January 1, 2000... Measure eases Medicare cuts for SNEs, HHAs MODIFICATIONS TO THE PAYMENT SYStems for skilled nursing facilities and home health agencies (HHAs) included in a comprehensive budget package approved by Congress is expected to go a long way...

Positive thinking.(aids in treatment of gait disorders)
January 1, 2000... Attitudes can influence gait, researchers say CAREGIVERS SHOULD CONSIDER THE impact of age-related stereotypes as they try to help the elderly maintain their independence, say researchers at Harvard University in November's Journal of the...

Call for change.(prevention of medical errors)
January 1, 2000... More people die from medical errors in the U.S. than from highway accidents, breast cancer, or AIDS, says a federal report released November 29. The report from the influential Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences calls for...

Who's qualified?(Medicare Balanced Budget Refinement Act to study competency of respiratory therapy provided by caregivers in nursing homes)
January 1, 2000... Respiratory therapists won a victory as President Clinton signed off November 29 on the Medicare Balanced Budget Refinement Act. The measure calls or a study of the competency of caregivers providing RT in skilled nursing facilities.

The target.(gene that triggers Alzheimer's disease isolated)
January 1, 2000... Scientists have isolated the gene believed to trigger Alzheimer's disease, says the December 2 issue of Nature. The isolation of the gene may help speed the search for new treatments.

Better prospects.(Health Care Financing Administration has new prospective payment system)
January 1, 2000... Home health faces new payment system HCFA's PROPOSED PAYMENT SYSTEM FOR home health agencies is an improvement over the current interim payment system (IPS) but still leaves much to be desired, say industry sources. The home health...

Stamp of approval.(accreditaton for assisted living facilities)
January 1, 2000... Assisted living readies for accreditation BY JULY, ASSISTED LIVING PROVIDERS will be able to seek voluntary accreditation--with a choice of accreditation programs. CARF...The Rehabilitation Accreditation Commission has developed assisted...

How to Feel Good as You Age.(Review)
January 1, 2000... How to Feel Good as You Age by John Barnett (VanderWyk & Burnham). This motivational paperback, written by a cancer survivor and advocate for nursing home residents, seeks to lengthen the living years and shorten the dying years. Barnett...

Aging, Autonomy, and Architecture: Advances in Assisted Living.(Review)
January 1, 2000... Aging, Autonomy, and Architecture: Advances in Assisted Living edited by Benyamin Schwarz, PhD, and Ruth Brent, PhD (The Johns Hopkins University Press). This paperback includes architectural drawings and contributions from experts in elder...

How Much are Medicare Beneficiaries Paying Out-of-Pocket for Prescription Drugs.(Review)
January 1, 2000... How Much are Medicare Beneficiaries Paying Out-of-Pocket for Prescription Drugs by Mary Jo Gibson, Normandy Brangan, David Gross, and Craig Caplan (Public Policy Institute of AARP). This issue paper presents data on out-of-pocket spending for...

Progress Report on Alzheimer's Disease 1999.
January 1, 2000... Progress Report on Alzheimer's Disease 1999 (National Institute on Aging). This report includes new findings in the areas of etiology, early diagnosis, developing drug treatments, support for caregivers, and building an Alzheimer's disease...

What's next?(Health and Human Services plans to improve quality of nursing home care)
January 1, 2000... Washington continues campaign to improve care STAFFING NEEDS AND STATE SURVEY AGENcies were the focus of Congress's most recent hearings on nursing home quality. And behind the scenes, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) plans...

Being judged.(Illinois Council on Long Term Care challenges Medicare rules)
January 1, 2000... Supreme Court bears challenge to Medicare rules A TRADE ASSOCIATION REPRESENTING nursing homes recently argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that it should be able to challenge Medicare rules in Court without first going through an...

JUST THE FACTS.(American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging conference report)
January 1, 2000... Who: American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging What: 1999 Annual Meeting and Exposition Where: Chicago's Navy Pier When: October 25-28 Attendees: 4.985 Exhibiting companies: 400 THE PROSPECTIVE PAYMENT...

Bill Communications.(Medtrade ''99 report)
January 1, 2000... Who: Bill Communications What: Medtrade '99 Where: Ernest Morial Convention Center, New Orleans When: November 3-6 Number of attendees: 26,096 Exhibiting companies: 1,065 ATTENDEES AND EXHIBITORS AT Medtrade '99 got a...

Why can't we just get along?(medical providers and regulators try a more collaborative approach)
January 1, 2000... Providers and regulators take a more collaborative approach YEARS AGO, WHEN CAR WINDOWS WERE SPROUTING BRIGHT yellow "Baby on board" signs, one long term care vendor built rapport with providers by handing out similar signs. The slogan?...

Getting what's yours.(collecting from private-pay nursing home residents)
January 1, 2000... Limit delinquent accounts in your private-pay population THOUGH MUCH ATTENTION HAS BEEN PAID TO THE INADEQUACY of Medicare reimbursement, private-pay nursing home residents present collection problems of their own. And with cutbacks in...

New Year's resolutions.(for better senior housing)
January 1, 2000... Growth and prosperity can be just around the corner NEW YEAR'S REVELERS WHO DIDN'T HAVE THE LUXURY OF sleeping in on January 1 are probably still cursing their alarm clocks. But another alarm--a wake-up call to the senior housing...

Problem behavior or pain?(pain may exacerbate dementia symptoms in nursing home patients)
January 1, 2000... Untreated pain can lead residents with dementia to strike out ARE THESE TYPICAL SCENARIOS ON THE DEMENTIA UNIT AT YOUR facility? When the nursing assistant attempted to put a sweater on Mrs. Jones after lunch, the resident struck at her,...

A day in the life.(chronical of a day in a nursing home from a patient's point of view)
January 1, 2000... Forty years ago, Loretta's [*] world was full of opportunity: trips to New York and Europe, interesting work, marriage, a family. Dressed in her strapless gowns and glittering jewels, she could have doubled for Elizabeth Taylor. But...

Easy does it.(when transferring patients from bed to chair)
January 1, 2000... "Can you imagine how a resident must feel?" says Suzanne Messinger, on the experience many of her residents go through during routine bed-to-chair transfers. "The movement in space, their dependence on another person... It can be terrifying."...

A lesson in distance learning.(distance education for nursing home personnel)
January 1, 2000... New technologies allow employees to learn while they earn A FAST-SHRINKING POOL OF EDUCATED, MOTIVATED WORKERS has created turmoil in the long term care industry as providers struggle to recruit and train workers to fill newly created...

Whistleblowers' wings clipped by Fifth Circuit.(False Claims Act lawsuits declared unconstitutional)
January 1, 2000... THE U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT HAS DECLARED that whistleblower's suits brought under the False Claims Act are unconstitutional when the federal government declines to intervene. The November 15 ruling, Riley v. St. Luke's...

IHS reports $1.82B loss for 3Q99.(Integrated Health Services)
January 1, 2000... If Integrated Health Services was a nursing home resident, it would be in subacute care. The Sparks, Maryland-based provider, which pioneered the idea of nursing homes providing round-the-clock medical care as an alternative to continued...

Regent names new president.(Louis Swart named president of Regent Assisted Living)
January 1, 2000... Louis Swart has been appointed president of Regent Assisted living, a Portland, Oregon-based owner/operator of assisted living communities in the western United States. Swart was chief operating officer. Founder Walter Bowen will continue in...

Beverly executive resigns.(Boyd Hendrickson resigns from Beverly Enterprises; David Banks to assume duties until a successor is chosen)
January 1, 2000... Boyd Hendrickson, president and COO of Beverly Enterprises, has resigned. Hendrickson also resigned from the Fort Smith, Arkansas-based company's board of directors. Beverly's news release gave no reason for the resignation, which came...

Lenox Healthcare files Chapter 11.(Lenox Healthcare Capital Corp.)
January 1, 2000... Lenox Healthcare Capital Corporation and at least 80 affiliates have filed for Chapter 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of Delaware. In a letter to vendors following the filing, the Pittsfield, Massachusetts-based company listed...

LEADERS AND LAGGARDS.(nursing home industry stock statistics)
January 1, 2000... How industry stocks fared from 11/1/99 through 11/30/99 After a bloody October, the long term care industry was thankful for some good news in November. The Raymond James LTC Index increased 12.8 percent, beating the NASDAQ Composite (+12.5...

Phoenix settles $47.5M in outstanding debt.(Phoenix Healthcare Corp.)
January 1, 2000... Dallas-based Phoenix Healthcare Corporation has entered into an agreement with National Health Investors, its largest creditor, for the release and settlement of more than $44 million in debt obligations. In addition, NHI will assume from...

Principal Senior Living adds Alzheimer's.(Principal Senior Living Group to open Beacon Pointe Alzheimer's care facility)
January 1, 2000... Roswell, Georgia-based Principal Senior Living Group will launch its first facility specializing in Alzheimer's residents. Beacon Pointe will be a freestanding facility adjacent to PSLG's Benton House assisted living community in Franklin,...

Advocat fails to meet NYSE listing standards.(and is looking at other listing options)
January 1, 2000... Advocat, an operator of 53 assisted living and 66 skilled nursing facilities, reported that it has fallen below the continued listing standards of the New York Stock Exchange. The Franklin, Tennessee-based company is in the process of exploring...

Study finds lots of room for cost-cutting.(in nursing home managment)
January 1, 2000... Everyone's blaming PPS for their financial woes, but at least one study has found that nursing homes--especially not-for-profit ones--weren't very efficient under the old system. The study, published in the Journal of Real Estate Portfolio...

List of top providers shows little change.(American Seniors Housing Association rankings)
January 1, 2000... Despite a year marked by considerable new construction activity and several significant acquisitions, the American Seniors Housing Association's ranking of the 25 largest owners and 25 largest managers has only six new names. While the...

Lexington requested to provide information.(Lexington Healthcare Corp. to provide information on subpoena)
January 1, 2000... Lexington Healthcare Group, a Farmington, Connecticut-based nursing home chain and provider of ancillary services, announced that certain employees were served with a subpoena by the Office of the U.S. Attorney General to testify before a...

Active to manage adult day center for university.(Active Services Corp. to manage the adult day health services facility at the University of Delaware)
January 1, 2000... Birmingham, Alabama-based Active Services Corporation has contracted to manage the University of Delaware's adult day health services program. It is one of only four such programs operated by a university in the U.S., and the second such one to...

Asbury and Wesley ink management pact.(Ashbury Services Management has management service agreement with Wesley Affiliated Services)
January 1, 2000... Asbury Services Management of Gaithersburg, Maryland, and Wesley Affiliated Services of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, have executed a management service agreement. "In 2000, the arrangement is expected to evolve into a full affiliation,"...

Marriott to manage Long Island CCRC.(Marriott Senior Living Services has agreeded to manage Harbor Ridge Associates I.P. facility)
January 1, 2000... New York City-based Harbor Ridge Associates IP and Marriott Senior living Services have agreed that Marriott will manage Harbor Ridge, a new CCRC planned for North Hempstead, New York. It will consist of about 330 independent living apartments...

Classic Residence, RSL win marketing awards.(Classic Residence by Hyatt and Resources for Senior Living win National Mature Media Awards)
January 1, 2000... Classic Residence by Hyatt and Resources for Senior Living both received National Mature Media Awards for their creative marketing materials. Classic Residence, the senior living affiliate of Hyatt Corporation, won 17 awards for materials...

East Hartford VNA now Hospice and Palliative Care.(changes name to Hospice and Palliative Care of Connecticut)
January 1, 2000... The East Hartford VNA, an affiliate of Wallingford, Connecticut-based Masonicare that provides hospice care in the greater Hartford, Connecticut, area, has changed its name to Hospice and Palliative Care of Connecticut. The change reflects...

Victor DeMarco.(and others appointd in executive positions in nursing home and long term care industry)
January 1, 2000... Victor DeMarco has been appointed senior vice president and chief financial officer of Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center. Prior to joining Bronx-Lebanon, he was divisional CFO at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center. Edward Corbeil has...

Balanced Care to sell off 10 SNFs for $60 million.(skilled nursing facilities)
January 1, 2000... Balanced Care Corporation, a chain of assisted living communities and nursing homes, is getting out of the nursing home business. The Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania-based company has entered into a purchase agreement with Christian Health Care...

Emeritus completes sale of Alert Care interest.(Emeritus Assisted Living)
January 1, 2000... Emeritus Assisted Living has completed the sale of its interest in Alert Care Corporation, an Ontario, Canada-based assisted living company. Emeritus realized gross proceeds of $11.9 million (Cdn). "The proceeds from this sale will be...

Alterra completes Manor Care asset purchase.(Alterra Healthcare Corp.)
January 1, 2000... Alterra Healthcare Corporation has completed the acquisition of the remaining eight residences under a previously announced agreement to buy 28 residences from Manor Care. In July, Brookfield, Wisconsin-based Alterra acquired 20 residences from...

Benchmark acquires Heritage at the Falls.(Benchmark Assisted Living of Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts)
January 1, 2000... Benchmark Assisted Living of Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts, has acquired Heritage at The Falls. Benchmark will change the name of the 90-unit assisted living community to The Falls at Condingley Dam, referring to a historic dam located in the...

Sunrise calls off deal to buy Constellation properties.(Sunrise Assisted Living cancells deal with Constellation Health Services)
January 1, 2000... Sunrise Assisted Living exercised its option to walk away from its deal with Constellation Health Services to buy 15 communities (12 existing and three under construction) and several sites. ("Sunrise to buy Constellation's senior living...

Silverado acquires Olympus View Hospital.(Silverado Senior Living acquires Olympus View Hospital and Medical Office building)
January 1, 2000... Silverado Senior Living, a chain of seven communities specializing in Alzheimer's care, is venturing outside California for the first time. Aliso Viejo, California-based Silverado has acquired Olympus View Hospital and Medical Office building...

Chest.(oak veneer chest by Adden)
January 1, 2000... Adden's oak veneer chest includes top drawer lock and nonremovable drawer options.

Textured carpet.(Aran broadloom from Lees)
January 1, 2000... The Arran broadloom pattern from Lees resembles the cozy sweaters traditionally worn by Scottish fishermen.

Reinforced seating.(from Sunrise Medical)
January 1, 2000... Sunrise Medical's reinforced composite chair has extended arms and high seats.

Vinyl fencing.(from Kroy Building Products)
January 1, 2000... Kroy Building Products features vinyl fencing, decks, railing, and decorative structures that can be tailor-made.

Wallcoverings and borders.(from J.M. Lynne)
January 1, 2000... J.M. Lynne's vinyl Protege line features leaves, vines, and geometrics in beiges, greens, and blues.

Fluorescent lighting.(from Progress Lighting)
January 1, 2000... Progress Lighting provides overall illumination while accenting architectural details with bright, white light. The line includes decorative residential fixtures

Bariatric wheelchair.(from Gendron)
January 1, 2000... Gendron's power-assisted recliner wheelchair provides safety-enhanced mobility for a person weighing up to 600 pounds.

Skin cleanser.(Kimberly-Clark's Sani-Fresh)
January 1, 2000... The new eight-ounce size of Kimberly-Clark's SANI-FRESH enables managers to place soap in many locations.

Adjustable table.(from Crestmark)
January 1, 2000... Crestmark's aluminum table adjusts from 19 to 29 inches and features two surface choices.

Meal delivery system.(Heat On Demand 2)
January 1, 2000... Heat On Demand 2 meal delivery system with dart provides small facilities with safe, efficient control options.

Water cooler.(from Elkay)
January 1, 2000... Elkay's line of barrier-free water coolers meets ADA accessibility guidelines. Coolers feature FlexiGuard, which flexes on impact to help prevent injuries.

Wheelchair parts.(from Alco)
January 1, 2000... ALCO's new 48-page wheelchair parts catalog provides repair and upgrading solutions.

Super Novey.(Ann Novey)
January 1, 2000... A centenarian's sense of adventure carrier her to 2000 Ann Novey, 105--one of about 70,000 centenarians nationwide celebrating the new millennium--planned at press time in early December to toast 2000 with those she loves the most, her...