Letters to the Editor, June 12: Care in nursing homes is costly; thoughts on the babies to come

Akron Beacon Journal - 6/12/2019

Care is costly

Thank you for the in-depth investigation resulting in the article "Local nursing home among worst" (June 9).

The description of most of the patients in the accompanying article shows they are patients with many nursing and care needs. The state pays a very low rate for nursing home patients. Most nursing homes would not want to admit such patients knowing the rate of state reimbursement.

Many of the better nursing homes would refuse to admit these high-maintenance patients.

Direction Home, Area Agency on Aging, has attempted to assist this situation by offering programs to allow families to keep patients at home.

The nursing homes that do accept these patients have a difficult time attracting employees with the odds stacked against them, overwork and too many patients to service.

To provide the proper care, the state would have to pay for the proper care for these fragile patients, requiring Ohioans to pay higher taxes.

I worked in a home health agency for 25 years; I know this is not a new problem.

Ann Brooks Duff, New Franklin

Raising more babies

If all of the right-to-life restrictions come to pass, and females of any age who chance to become pregnant must go through nine months of carrying a baby they never wanted, or was imposed on them by rape or incest, what happens when those babies are born?

When are the boys and men, who are the other half of this problem, ever going to be held responsible? Why isn't this included in sex education classes? With the advancement of sexual participation by younger and younger children today, it would seem logical to teach all boys by age 13 about how to use condoms and why they should.

Girls, on average, start menstruating from about age 11 or 12. Do all middle schools encourage pregnant girls to continue with their education? Many high schools do.

Nancy Lockwood, Streetsboro

Done with guns

Yes, mental illness is a problem in every society ("About mental illness," Voice of the People, May 15). In this country, however, the constant nagging to shift the focus onto mental health, aberrant behavior, morals and motives, and away from guns is indicative of a society obsessed with self, with adolescence, with machismo, and one that has lost the ability to use language with sensitivity or logical rigor.

A drunkard with a gun, a person high on drugs with a gun, a delusional person with a gun, an angry person with a gun, a child with a gun, a blind person with a gun, a psychopath with a gun, a monkey with a gun -- all can kill because of the gun. Is the "freedom" to play with guns and kill for sport worth the life of a child?

Tricia Hammann, Akron

Patients in pain

The new guidelines for prescribing pain medications because of their addictive qualities seemed like a good idea.

However, I have developed a bicep tear with a possible rotator cuff tear (pending MRI results). After being examined by the nurse practitioner at the orthopedic physician's office, I was offered prednisone, and now I sit with ibuprofen and an ice pack in more pain than I've had in a long time.

Pray or keep your fingers crossed that you do not develop a painful injury. Good luck, if you do. I can almost assure you that your physician will be afraid (instructed) not to medicate you for your pain.

Linda Honeywell, Cuyahoga Falls

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