Pennsylvania halted anonymous nursing home complaints for 3 years, auditors don't know why

July 26--HARRISBURG -- For three years, the Pennsylvania Department of Health stopped accepting anonymous complaints against nursing homes, a move that was "risking residents' safety," Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said Tuesday.

Halting anonymous complaints violates federal policy and is "a decision that is absolutely breathtaking," DePasquale said at a news conference. He said it was "an action intended to silence critics."

It occurred from 2012-2014 under the former administration of Republican Gov. Tom Corbett. No immediate response was available from a former Corbett spokesman.

DePasquale, the state's fiscal watchdog, said his auditors found no records indicating the rationale for the action.

Dr. Karen Murphy, the current agency secretary, said the department began accepting complaints from anonymous tipsters in 2015. She is Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf's appointee.

Since 2015, overall complaints increased by 63 percent, the auditor general said.

Asked what percentage of anonymous complaints were validated, Murphy said about 10 percent.

While the agency fully cooperated with the audit, it still has "work to do" in assuring appropriate staffing levels, DePasquale said.

Murphy requested the audit, DePasquale said.

"The quality of care provided to 80,000 Pennsylvanians who live in nursing homes is directly related to adequate staffing," he said.

In addition, the department did little to enforced a law requiring 2.7 hours of direct nursing care per day for each resident, DePasquale said.

In 7,325 instances of the agency completing a nursing home survey, it issued 13 citations "an unbelievably low number," DePasquale said.

DePasqule cited examples of insufficient penalties, such as a resident with a history of wandering, falling down a flight of stairs in a wheelchair. Staff responded immediately but the patient later died at a hospital. The facility was cited for violations and fined $4,000. In another instance, after a complaint from a family member that a patient was "dirty, frail and unresponsive" the person was found to be malnourished and dehydrated. The patient was receiving too much antipsychotic medication, DePasquale said, and later died in a hospital.

Overall, many of the deficiencies cited in the audit have been remedied by the Department of Health, DePasquale said..

As a matter of policy, the names of the homes aren't cited in the audit, said DePasquale. Murphy said citations issued to homes are publicly available on her agency's web site. DePasquale said his audits are aimed at fixing the problem.

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