Contemporary Long Term Care articles from September 1999

Contemporary Long Term Care archives from September 1999

Dealing with dementia.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... THERE'S HOPE ON THE HORIZON for people with Alzheimer's disease, not to mention their families and professional caregivers. But the horizon is never as close as it looks. This issue's lead Newsfronts story is a progress report on a...

From mice to men.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 1999... Vaccine may someday prevent Alzbeimer's disease RESEARCHERS HOPE TO GET THE GO-ahead from the Food and Drug Administration by the end of the year to begin Phase I clinical trials for a vaccine to delay, and perhaps even prevent, Alzheimer's...

UNDER THE WIRE.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... Finally final. HCFA's final rule governing the SNF PPS was published on July 30 and takes effect on September 28. Among its points: * HCFA will match the UB-92 to the MDS and generate reports for use by fiscal intermediaries during medical...

Missing links.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... Texts fall short on end-of-life care NURSING TEXTBOOKS FAIL TO ADEQUATELY cover end-of-life care, including pain management, says a new study published in the June issue of Oncology Nursing Forum. The study, directed under a grant from...

Reaching out.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... JFK's effort to help workers lives on NEW YORK LOST NOT ONLY ONE OF ITS biggest celebrities when John F. Kennedy, Jr., died in July but also a humanitarian who worked hard to improve the lives of city residents with frontline jobs in health...

At risk.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 1999... Stroke patients with dementia not given preventive care STROKE PATIENTS WITH DEMENTIA OFTEN don't receive prescribed drugs that could prevent repeated occurrences of stroke, according to a report in the July issue of the Journal of the...

Be prepared.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 1999... States plan for possible nursing home closures STATES ARE STARTING To SPEAK our ABOUT Washington's recent calls to get ready for possible nursing home chain closures. On May 7, HCFA sent a letter to state agencies asking them to...

Cancellation policy.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 1999... Congress considers easing Medicare cuts to borne health CONGRESS MAY BE MOVING TOWARD A MORE favorable position for Medicare home health agencies. Although the outcome is far from certain, new legislation introduced with bipartisan backing...

Fine points.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... AHCA files for summary judgment in monetary penalties case THE FIGHT GOES ON. IN JULY, THE AMERICAN Health Care Association filed a motion for summary judgment in its lawsuit against HCFA's new policy regarding the use of civil monetary...

Show restraint.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... New restraint rules for hospitals similar to nursing homes' HOSPITALS MAY SOON BE TAKING MORE CUES from nursing homes that have pledged to be restraint-free, say experts familiar with HCFA's new regulations regarding the use of restraints...

On hold in Arizona.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... A month-long investigation into the death of an 86-year-old resident at Phoenix's SunBridge (formerly SunRise) Thunderbird Rehabilitation and Care Center has left the facility with only a provisional license, which will expire on October 31....

Taking a stand in Illinois.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... The Illinois Council on Long Term Care has developed a 40-page manual to help nursing facilities comply with new federal guidelines designed to prevent abuse and neglect among nursing home residents. The council, which represents some 200...

Aging and the Law (CCH Incorporated).(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... Aging and the Law (CCH Incorporated). This binder covers the spectrum of elder law, with chapters on nursing homes, financial planning, estate planning, and legal issues concerning death and dying. To order, call 800-248-3248 (cost: $195).

International Longevity Center-USA Web site.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... ILC-USA is a not-for-profit research and education organization that studies longevity and population aging around the world. On its Web site you can download publications, find information about its research projects, and link to related...

ACHCA 1999-2000 National Awards program.(American College of Health Care Administrators)(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... The American College of Health Care Administrators is accepting nominations for its national awards program. Members can be nominated in the following categories: distinguished administrator, new administrator, fellow emeritus, and...

It's a woman's world.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... Jesse Bonifazi was recently promoted to assistant director of activities and recreation therapist at Columbine Care Center East in Fort Collins, Colorado. The hazards of being a male nursing assistant MY DIGNITY WENT OUT THE WINDOW ON...

Submitting error-free claims.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... Marc Zimmet is senior reimbursement consultant and Sheryl B. Rosenfield is director of clinical services for Zinunet-Hecht Associates, a consulting firm with offices in New York City and Old Bridge, New Jersey. An internal audit can root...

At a loss.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 1999... A contributing writer to Contemporary Long Term Care, Jim Moore is president of Moore Diversified Services, a Fort Worth-based senior housing and health care consulting firm, and author of Assisted Living 2000. A not-for-profit faces hard...

The big zero.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... Fort Collins, Colorado-based freelancer Wendy L. Bonifazi, RN, APR, a contributing writer to Contemporary Long Term Care, was the relations management and marketing director for six deficiency-free nursing facilities (one for five straight...

A family affair.
September 1, 1999... Wendy L. Bonifazi, RN, is a contributing writer to Contemporary Long Term Care. Dementia patients' relatives need help, too The problem comes up again and again. A long term care resident with dementia loses a personal possession, and...

DIRTY LAUNDRY.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... Wendy L Bonifazi, RN, a contributing writer to Contemporary Long Term Care, is based in Fort Collins, Colorado. DO YOU THINK YOUR BIGGEST laundry problem is what's missing? Think again. According to experts, you should be concerned...

Adding Alzheimer's.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... Anne Wright is a freelance writer based in Falls Church, Virginia. The industry targets a growing market The report's numbers grab your attention. More than six million seniors have Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia--half of...

The big picture.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... Because there isn't yet one commonly accepted definition of assisted living, getting an exact facility count isn't easy. Adding up every facility licensed as assisted living or its state's equivalent term, researcher Robert Mollica found 28,131...

Rediscover your roots.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... Hal Peskin is president of RIMCO Development Co., which develops and owns assisted living facilities and CCRCs in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The case for staying simple--and affordable The roots of today's assisted living facility...

Health care bonds.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... Alan F. Wohlstetter, Jr. is a member of the Philadelphia-based law firm of Cozen and O'Connor and chair of its public finance group. Bridget A. Brennan is an associate in the firm's tax group. Sell assisted living facilities while retaining...

There's room at the inn.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 1999... Kathleen M. Griffin, PhD, is national director of post-acute and senior services with Health Dimensions Consulting Group, Benedictine Health System. Boost sagging census by augmenting your subacute program FOR MANY NURSING FACILITIES...

Be a promise keeper.
September 1, 1999... Joel Goldman is an attorney with the San Francisco firm of Hanson, Bridgett, Marcus, Vlahos & Rudy. Today's marketing representation could be tomorrow's lawsuit AS IN ANY BUSINESS, THERE IS AN INHERENT TENSION BETWEEN legal and...

HCR revises 2d quarter estimate downward.(HCR Manor Care)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 1999... In July, HCR Manor Care announced that the company's second-quarter earnings would fall short of previous expectations. President and CEO Paul Ormond cited delays in closings of certain asset sales as well as lower revenues and higher costs...

Beverly sells home care, consulting businesses.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... Beverly Home Care, a subsidiary of Beverly Enterprises in Fort Smith, Arkansas, has sold its middle Tennessee operations to HomeCare Solutions in Chattanooga, Tennessee, barely a year after acquiring the company. The five locations will be...

CORPORATE LADDER.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... Robert Napier, senior vice president and chief information officer for Atlanta-based Mariner Post-Acute Network has left the company to accept a similar position with Compaq Computer Corporation. Keith Martin, Mariner's vice president for...

Former Manor Care execs launch assisted living firm.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... In its first acquisition, Chesapeake Healthcare Corp., a Gaithersburg, Maryland-based company established by former Manor Care executives, has purchased Somerford Corp., a Californiabased assisted living company specializing in Alaheimer's...

Benchmark to acquire two Vermont communities.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... Wellesley, Massachusetts-based Benchmark Assisted Living has agreed to acquire Shelburne, Vermont-based Peverly-Routhier Inc., which owns two senior housing communities totaling 86 apartments in Shelbume. The acquisition brings to seven...

New owners on board at Bronson Place.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... Bronson Healthcare Group has sold its Kalamazoo, Michigan, retirement community, Bronson Place, to Fountains Continuum of Care Inc. The Fountains at Bronson Place is comprised of 164 independent living apartments, 24 assisted living units,...

Georgia nonprofit buys Kansas nursing home.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... August, Georgia-based Lafayette Lifeplans Corp. acquired Maple Heights Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Hiawatha, Kansas, with a $2 million tax-exempt bond. The seller was EBT Healthcare Properties LP, a Dallas-based limited partnership....

Leaders and Laggards.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 1999... How industry stocks fared from 7/1/99 through 7/31/99 July continued the industry's woes. The Raymond James LTC Index declined 7.3% while the NASDAQ Composite fell 7.9% and the Russell 2000 dropped 4.4%. Market worries about rate increases,...

Hallmark purchases live assisted living centers.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 1999... Towson, Maryland-based Hallmark Senior Communities LLC has acquired five assisted living facilities with an aggregate capacity of 640 residents. The acquisitions increase the company's holdings to 15 centers with a total capacity of 1,760...

Holy Cross, Mercy Health systems agree to merge.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... South Bend, Indiana-based Holy Cross Health Systems and Farmington Hills, Michigan-based Mercy Health System have agreed to merge. If the deal goes through, it would create the third-largest Catholic health system in the United States, with...

Adult day center affiliates with hospital.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... Cherry Hill, New Jersey-based Senior Care Centers of America, an adult day services provider, and Underwood-Memorial Hospital have signed an affiliation agreement. The agreement offers Underwood an opportunity to provide ancillary medical...

Complete Care to manage 11 Cleveland-area SNFs.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... Horsham, Pennsylvania-based Complete Care Services' Midwestern subsidiary, CCS Midwest Inc., has signed long term management contracts with the new owners of eleven nursing homes in greater Cleveland. The homes were recently acquired by...

Vencor sued (or double-billing, evictions.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... Vencor Inc., the struggling Louisville, Kentucky-based nursing home chain, has been accused by the government of overbilling Medicare in a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Tampa, Florida. The government joined a whistleblower suit...

HCR ManorCare settle neglect suit for $1M.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... HCR ManorCare agreed to pay $1 million to settle a wrongful death suit arising from the death of Russell Lee, 80, a former resident of the Citrus Heights nursing home in California. Lee was admitted to the facility in April 1996 after...

Sun Healthcare defers payment to banks.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... Sun Healthcare Group Inc. did not make a $19.5 million payment due to its banks under a senior credit facility on June 30. The amount includes about $16 million in interest and $3.5 million in principal. Albuquerque, New Mexico-based Sun said...

Vencor, Ventas agree on certain matters.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... Ventas Inc. a real estate company whose properties include the 219 nursing homes, 45 hospitals, and eight personal care facilities leased by Vencor Inc., entered into an agreement with its principal tenant providing for the payment of June...

RainTree delays interest payment on senior notes.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... Scottsdale, Arizona-based RainTree Healthcare Corporation did not make its $1.3 million interest payment due July 1 on 11 percent senior secured notes due 2003. The notes were issued as part of the company's reorganization. In a prepared...

NewCare bankruptcy prompts first default.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... The recent Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by Atlanta-based NewCare Health Corp. has forced at least one municipal bond issuer into default. The default was on a 1985 bond issue by Tyler Health Facilities Development Corp. NewCare's bankruptcy...

PHS develops wellness program for employees.(Presbyterian Homes & Services Inc.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... Princeton, New Jersey-based Presbyterian Homes & Services Inc, a not-for-profit provider of senior housing and health care options, is establishing a wellness program for the 1,200 employees at its 20 senior communities. It will consist of...

Asbury Solomons receives NADONA award.(National Association of Directors of Nursing)(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... The restorative care program developed by Anne Marie Barnett, director of nursing for Asbury Solomons, a CCRC in Gaithersburg, Maryland, has earned the facility a Founders Educational Award from the National Association of Directors of Nursing....

Diversified arranges funds for affordable ALFs.(assisted living facilities)(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... In what may be the first time a not-for-profit project sponsor used a third-party developer to develop an ALF funded by an FHA-insured mortgage loan, Diversified Senior Funding, a subsidiary of Diversified Senior Services Inc., has arranged the...

GMAC arranges seven loans in five states.(GMAC Commercial Mortgage)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 1999... Horsham, Pennsylvania-based GMAC Commercial Mortgage recently arranged seven loans to long term care operators: * $4.7 million in financing for Retirement and Nursing Center, a 157-bed SNF in Austin, Texas. The permanent loan has a fixed...

NCS opens fourth Illinois institutional pharmacy.(NCS HealthCare Inc.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... Cleveland-based NCS HealthCare has opened a fourth Illinois institutional pharmacy. The new Elk Grove Village operating site, serving the Chicago and Rockford areas, will enable the company to provide statewide coverage of long term and...

Physician group buys Golan from Sun.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... Long Term Care Physicians Corporation of Franklin, Tennessee, has acquired Golan Health Services, a subsidiary of Sun Healthcare Group. The acquisition establishes LTCP's sixth region, Long Term Care Physicians of New England. Ray Thivierge,...

Parkinson's progress.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... What causes Parkinson's disease? Bayne: The area of the brain called the substantia nigra starts to die. That's where the dopaminergic cells are, so production of dopamine goes down, upsetting the exquisite balance with acetylcholine in...