STATEMENT — New Jersey Task Force on Long-Term Care Quality and Safety Report
Laurie Facciarossa Brewer, New Jersey’s Long-Term Care Ombudsman, issued the following statement responding to the Task Force report , which was released today:
“I commend the Murphy administration and members of the New Jersey Task Force on Long-Term Care Quality and Safety for this frank evaluation of the state's long-term care system, including the state's nursing homes, and how a wide swath of the system failed residents and families during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I am especially thankful that task force members seized the opportunity to fundamentally rethink how long-term care services should be delivered to reflect the ways New Jersey residents want and deserve to live. New Jersey has historically relied too heavily on institutional care such as nursing homes. The report recognizes this shortcoming and recommends that the state continue to invest in and rapidly expand its system of home- and community-based services.
“The report recommends fundamental changes to Medicaid to ensure people can get timely care at home rather than being placed in a nursing home. When given the option, 80 percent of older adults would prefer to receive care at home. We should ensure that New Jersey’s long-term care system honors these preferences and prioritizes people’s dignity as they age.
“Nursing homes in New Jersey are entirely too large and not homelike. The report recognizes that New Jersey should follow the lead of other states and implement policy changes and investments to create smaller nursing homes with more person-centered models of care — such as the Greenhouse model, which empowers staff members and provides higher levels of privacy, satisfaction, and safety than traditional nursing homes. These smaller, person-centered homes should become the norm.
“In short, we must change long-held mindsets and investment priorities. We must incentivize the people who own and operate long-term care facilities to create welcoming, home-like environments.
“We also need stronger financial transparency requirements so that regulators and advocates can properly evaluate nursing homes’ operations and ensure that the interests of the residents always outweigh the pursuit of profits.
“And we must adopt policies that foster recruiting, retaining, and empowering long-term care staff. Understaffing is at the root of most problems in long-term care. It will take a comprehensive plan to correct it.
“None of this will be easy, but worthwhile pursuits rarely are. At the Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman, we are committed to working with the Murphy administration and the Legislature to put the report’s recommendations into practice and begin the journey toward a long-term care system in which a high quality of life for residents is a given.”
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