Reporting Elder Abuse in Washington State

Washington State Slow to Respond to Elder Abuse Complaints

SEATTLE, WA — December 21, 2001 — Complaints about the care of seniors in Washington state long–term care facilities are not being investigated within legal time limits, according to a recent audit (Report of Whistleblower Investigation, Department of Social and Health Services, November 7, 2001). The report was a result of a four–month study of how the state Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) handled complaints in nursing, adult family and boarding homes.

The DSHS is required to begin investigating complaints within 10 days if they involve “a significant potential threat of risk or harm to a resident's physical and/or mental health or safety.” Types of complaints that come under this heading may include failure to turn the patient in bed to prevent bedsores, lack of required doctor’s visits, or failure to give prescribed medications on schedule. The audit found that in as many as one out of three cases, the DSHS did not meet the 10–day deadline. The agency did meet the required two–day deadline for priority complaints such as assault or sexual abuse.

In responding to the audit report, the DSHS noted that it is severely understaffed, and that it will continue to ask for more resources. According to Larita Paulsen, the head of consumer services for DSHS, the expected addition of 20 more investigators over the next two years will help speed the complaint process, but even more investigators are needed (Seattle Post–Intelligencer, December 6, 2001).

Families of residents in Washington long–term care facilities should be concerned about the audit report. Recently, a federal study uncovered abuse violations in a third of nursing homes throughout the United States, including Washington (see Geriatric Times January/February 2002 Vol. III Issue 1). Providing efficient complaint systems in Washington and other states would be a first step towards identifying and combating such problems in long–term care facilities.

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