Thursday Press Conference: NEW NURSING HOME GRADING SYSTEM GOES INTO EFFECT JAN. 1

 

 

 

       

 

MEDIA ADVISORY

Contact:  Tony Bell, Communications Deputy Office:     (213) 974-5555  Cell: (213) 215-5176 E-mail:     tbell@bos.lacounty.gov

     December 21, 2010                                                                                   For Immediate Release

 

NEW NURSING HOME GRADING SYSTEM GOES INTO EFFECT JAN. 1

 

Antonovich to Lead Media Demonstration at Glendale Senior Facility

 

WHO:         Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, Los Angeles County Mayor

                    John Cochrane, CEO, Windsor Manor

                    LA County Public Health Department staff 

                   

WHAT:       Press conference to demonstrate new Nursing Home Rating System.

                    WITH VISUAL DISPLAY OF GRADING SYSTEM SIGNAGE

 

WHEN:       Thursday, December 23, 2010 at 9:30 a.m.

 

WHERE:    Windsor Manor

1230 Windsor Rd.

Glendale, CA

 

LOS ANGELES COUNTY – Mayor Michael D. Antonovich will hold a press conference at Windsor Manor highlighting the Nursing Home Grading System he initiated which will go into effect on January 1, 2011.

 

"To enhance the quality of care for our senior citizens, the state law I initiated requiring nursing homes to publicly display their federal five-star rating follows the success of our restaurant grading system," said Antonovich, who also fathered the County's restaurant grading system in 1997.  "This posting system provides vital information for families to make informed decisions about the care for their loved ones and provides incentives for facility operators to establish and maintain high-quality standards of care and compliance."

 

In 2009, the Board of Supervisors approved Supervisor Antonovich’s motion to provide the Federal Government’s grading reports of area nursing homes on the Los Angeles County website.  The motion also encouraged the State to require that nursing homes post their five-star rating issued by the Federal Government’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to allow the consumer to make an informed decision about care.  Signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger, Assembly Bill 215 by Assemblymen Cameron Smyth and Feuer, requires nursing homes to post assigned grades reflecting their quality ratings.

 

The rating system covers quality of medical care, staffing levels, food services, sanitation, bedsore mitigation and the results of licensing inspections. The system designates five stars for the highest rated facilities, down to one star for the poorest.

 

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