A spokesman for the nursing home industry worries about over-reaction to a newspaper series that has put the spotlight on problems in Missouri’s nursing home system. Governor Bob Holden, prompted by a series of St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper articles, is calling for a comprehensive review and overahul of state nursing homne regulations and laws. Among other things, he wants to remove one word -“knowingly” from state laws – a standard that says a nursing home employee has to know a patient is being abused or neglected for their actions to be a crime. Executive director Earl Carlson of the Missouri Health Care Association thinks that’s an overzealous position that will hurt nursing homes’ abilities to hire staff. Lieutenant Governor Joe Maxwell already is holding hearings on nursing home care. Carlson says his industry will help but hopes the studies are not influenced by emotionalism.
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