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North Bay nursing homes sustain quality levels compared with state

NORTH BAY – A recent UCSF study found that North Bay nursing homes performed better than the state in sustaining quality of care, but researchers in the study say challenges remain.

In 2006, every qualified nursing home facility in the state received its share of about $1 billion more in Medi-Cal funding, but so far none, including those in the North Bay, have made significant improvement in care.

“According to the data we collected, the proficiencies in every area got worse, deficiencies went up, complaints went up, employee turnover went up and wages didn’t keep pace with inflation,” said UCSF professor and lead in the study Dr. Charlene Harrington.

Lawmakers approved the reimbursement increases in 2004, and the new rates went into effect in 2006. The UCSF study looked at changes in quality of care between 2001 and 2006 to see if quality increased with the funding. On average, each nursing home received about $30 more a day from Medi-Cal.

The state did increase quality in some areas by a small margin, but even those did not meet experts’ recommendations. Nursing attention to patients grew by about 3 percent, but about 16 percent of facilities reported inadequate nursing staff.

The average nurse’s wage increased from about $10.61 per hour to $11.32 but was still not high enough to match inflation, and about seven out of 10 nurses quit their job within the year of the study.

The state average of dollars spent on patients decreased by 3.6 percent and substantiated complaints increased by 38 percent.

Researches analyzed 27 nursing homes in Napa, Marin and Sonoma counties and reported that while the region did not have significant decreases in quality compared with the state average, it also did not improve by any substantial measure.

Nursing hours did not move up or down, and turnover increased from about 55 percent leaving the facility within a year in 2005 to about 64 percent in 2006. Dollars spent directly on patient care also increased slightly, moving from about $108 per patient in 2005 to $113 in 2006.

Nurses’ wages fared better against state averages, moving from $13.36 per hour to $13.81.