Last year, officials in the state of Ohio expressed concerns about the purchase of the "troubled family" known as HRC Manor by The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm that includes as its directors some of the most prominent names in American politics.
Toledo-based HCR Manor Care operates 44 nursing homes caring for 5,100 people in Ohio and has been under close watch by state authorities. Officials fear that recent problems could continue under the ownership of Carlyle, which owns Dunkin' Donuts and Hertz, but it's only health care related venture is Lifecare, a nationwide chain of 21 long-term care hospitals.
"These aren't the kind of nursing homes that they can just take over and keep status quo," said Beverly Laubert, long-term care ombudsman for the Ohio Department of Aging. "When you have facilities with such quality problems, someone is going to have to fix them."
State investigators have found instances in which residents at HRC Manor Care facilities did not receive proper care, including instances in which residents didn't receive physician-ordered lab tests or the proper treatment for incontinence, hampering their ability to progress toward using the bathroom on their own.
Michigan's own ombudsman for long-term care expressed the same kinds of reservations this week, but the response she got from one side of the aisle was scoffing. Via Gongwer:
