Watch: Jessica Moore Discusses Assisted Living Facility Safety on Tampa’s ABC Action News

Constantine Cannon has been following the impact of COVID-19 on nursing homes and assisted living facilities.  Residents and workers at nursing homes make up a disproportionate share of U.S. coronavirus deaths, and the pandemic has imposed unique burdens on the industry.

Florida recently implemented standards that will allow visitors in to long-term care facilities, if those facilities meet specific criteria.  While this is no doubt welcome news for family members of residents, ABC News Tampa Bay (WFTS) reports that there is uncertainty about how well such facilities are performing on relevant measures, including infection control procedures.

In an interview with ABC News, Constantine Cannon whistleblower attorney Jessica Moore, who has written extensively about long-term care facilities and COVID-19, notes that the pandemic has “expos[ed] all of the cracks and deficiencies in the system, and the fact that there was no room for error before this.”  COVID-19, Moore explains in an earlier segment, has required long-term care facilities to not only “maintain resources, but add new resources, and have resources in reserve” – resources that many facilities lack.

While the federal government has made additional funding available to long-term care facilities, oversight of that funding will be critical.  With routine inspections halted as a result of the pandemic, compliance can be difficult to monitor.  Insiders and other whistleblowers will, as always, play a critical role in ensuring that facilities provide for the safety of their residents and workers, and are appropriate stewards of taxpayer funds.

Read More:

• Whistleblowers Are Critical to Exposing Fraud in the Murky World of For-Profit and Private-Equity Nursing Home Operations
• Increased Federal Funds, Incentives, and Requirements for Nursing Homes Brings Worrisome Opportunities for Fraud
• Let’s Talk about Nursing Homes – Who Will Raise the Red Flag Now That Routine Inspections Are Halted?
• Private Equity Ownership of Nursing Homes Might Have Made Everything Worse
• The False Claims Act
• The Constantine Cannon Whistleblower Team
• Whistleblower FAQs
• Contact us for a confidential consultation

Tagged in: CC Lawyers, COVID-19, Healthcare Fraud, Importance of Whistleblowers, SNF,