Texas Nursing Home Regulation Inadequate & State Is Unable To Sanction Licensing Violations

Texas has a state regulatory structure for nursing home licensing enforcement that lacks power to sanction operators who violate licensing requirements. The inadequate structure means that the state cannot hold nursing home operators accountable for resident safety. From September 2014 to September 2015, DADS cited nursing homes for 17,466 violations, 454 of which involved immediate jeopardy to resident health and safety, and another 312 involved harm to residents. During the same period, the state took only 40 enforcement actions.

These findings were reported in “Intolerable Care: A Snapshot Of The Texas Nursing Home Crisis” by AARP Texas. Researchers with . . .