SUMMIT COUNTY, Ohio – When the Summit County Nursing Homes and Facilities Task Force issued final recommendations in early 2021, the intent was to put the recommendations into action and report on outcomes.

A year later, the pandemic subsided enough to let people back in to the county’s more than 40 long-term care facilities, many of which for months had allowed only “compassionate-care visits” for residents who were depressed, very ill or dying.  

But reports on the conditions, including those from Summit County Probate Court inspectors who check in on the court’s wards, were alarming enough to reconvene the task force and renew efforts to raise the level of care in Summit County facilities, said Jeff Wilhite, county councilman and task force chair.

“They were coming back and telling horror stories of what they have seen visibly with many of the folks that are in their charge, things like the people sitting in their own filth, not having been turned or moved, and severe bedsores, and just conditions that aren't what you would expect for someone who's in the care of a facility like that,” Wilhite said.

Inspections of the facilities posted on the Medicare.gov website support those observations, detailing conditions in which residents were not bathed, dining areas were dirty, food not properly stored and medications mismanaged.

Advocates from Direction Home Akron Canton, the local Area Agency on Aging and Ombudsman Sponsor for Summit County, related similar observations, said Senior Vice President for Elder Rights Sam McCoy who has worked in the elder-care industry for nearly 30 years.

“It was the details of care that were simply not attended to,” he said, and it happened in facilities across the state.

In addition to bed sores and widespread weight loss, advocates also reported an increase in use of psychotropic medications for behavior management, McCoy said. Some facilities were declining admissions because there wasn’t enough staffing.

“I think the industry has never been as difficult and as challenging as it is right now,” McCoy said.

Low staffing is a common excuse given for poor-quality care, which Wilhite said he is tired of hearing.

“The other side of that equation is what are you paying them?” Wilhite said. “You know, it is not easy to take care of another human being, and if you're going to be in that business, then maybe you look at a little less profit and a little more workforce support to not only retain good employees, but attract new and good employees to provide the very basic care that has to happen in a facility like that.”

Many nursing homes are nothing more than a line item on a spreadsheet along with other facilities owned by non-local corporations, Wilhite said.

Since reconvening, the task force has identified three initial action items:

• create a balanced nursing home/assisted living/memory care consumer guide
• create a “Bill of Rights” for patients, families and guardians
• strengthen local services to enable people to age at home

The task force also plans to partner with other local organizations on a kind of longer-term quality-improvement project to help struggling Summit County facilities, said McCoy, who also serves on the task force.

“Knowing what our limitations are, we're going to look at where the gaps are,” Wilhite said.

But the task force’s message to nursing homes is clear, he said.

“You can keep doing what you're doing, but we've got the right to let people know what you're doing and give them the tools they need to make a safe and sound decision for their loved one that is in need of your services,” he said.

In the meantime, the task force “is not going to take the spotlight off” the facilities rated one star, which means “much below average,” on Medicare’s list, Wilhite said.

Currently ranked lowest in Summit County are:

• The Colony Healthcare Center in Tallmadge
• Divine Rehabilitation and Nursing at Canal Pointe in Akron
• Regency Care of Copley in Akron
• Continuing Healthcare in Cuyahoga Falls
• Windsong Nursing & Rehab in Akron

In the meantime, a recent development that can help families is Esther’s Law, which passed in March, making it legal for families to install monitoring devices in family members’ rooms so they can check in, he said.

The law is named for Esther Piskor, an Ohio woman who had dementia and was abused for the last three years of her life. Her son, Steve Piskor, learned his mom was abused through a hidden camera he installed.

Summit County Nursing Home Task Force meetings are open to the public. The next meeting is set for 10 a.m. Wednesday, June 15 in Room 119a of the Ohio Means Jobs Building, 1040 East College Avenue in Akron.