Holden-Maxwell Nursing Home Legislation toughens senior citizen protection and holds nursing home executives accountable

	JEFFERSON CITY -- Missouri Governor Bob Holden and Lt. Governor Joe  Maxwell called for sweeping reforms in Missouri laws to protect residents in nursing homes and to punish those who provide poor care to Missouri elderly. 

	Holden and Maxwell joined forces to propose legislation to strengthen what both state leaders consider weak protection laws. Lt. Governor Maxwell serves as elderly advocate and worked closely with Holden and a team of advocates to recommend changes. 

Changes they proposed will: 

* Toughen the state's neglect statute to make it easier for the Department of Health and Senior Services to bar individuals, who have abused, neglected, or financially exploited seniors, from working in the eldercare industry. 

* Demand civil penalties for poor performance. Current law allows nursing homes to avoid civil penalties if problems cited have been corrected at the time of reinspection.

* Demand CEO accountability by requiring nursing home executives to certify the quality of care being provided in their nursing homes. " This is all a part of corporate accountability. It's one thing to go after the low level employee but quite another to put the CEO on the line." Holden said. 

* Prevent bad actors from other states from entering the market. Current law prevents consideration of an operator's history in another state before allowing them to do business in Missouri. "It's about care over profit," Maxwell said. "We want to ensure our seniors receive the best quality of care for their specific needs, and that means driving the bad actors out of the state as well."

* Expands the statute of limitations from 180 days to two years for nursing home residents to initiate a complaint regarding any violation of their rights under Missouri's nursing home statutes.

* Allow the Department of Health and Senior Services to revoke the license of a long-term care facility for the same reasons it would deny issuing that license in the first place.

* Require long-term facility administrator to contact the coroner immediately upon the death of any resident in a facility, including any resident who has been moved to a hospital. Current law does not require a death in a nursing home to be reported to the coroner.