Bitter Endings

DateJuly 24 1987

Can DescriptionsMaster Specials X4625 Nursing Homes "Bitter Endings" Rec. 7/24/87 Air. 7/29/87

AbstractTitle: “Bitter Endings”; with Mike Barnicle; subject focus is on nursing homes, ageing and the victims of nursing home care; segment #1: stories on trying to find a bed in a nursing home, bad management; story from Brockton Ridge, a nursing home; Barbara Donovan of the Department of Public Health on the subject; investor oriented nursing homes; Jim Sullivan of the Rate Setting Commission on the subject; cut to black; segment #2: story of a man named Kenneth and his experiences with his ailing wife; nursing home costs; John Ford, Legal Elderly Law Project Attorney; spend down method; Ford on the subject; insurance, Medicare and Medicaid; Lawyer Dave Norris on the subject of trust laws; John Hopkins, an administrator, on the subject of Medicaid; Ford on the subject of life savings; medical and financial crisis; State Mental Hospital when no nursing home is available; Anthony Sclafani of the Geriatric Support Program on the subject; Ford on intentional nursing home bed shortages; cut to black; Segment #3: Donovan on Brockton Ridge; Avanti taking over, money wasting, cuts and food shortage; state inspections; Nursing Supervisor Dorothy Donovan on the subject; Dottie Slack, new director of Brockton Ridge, on the subject; chain nursing homes; David Roush of the Department of Public health on the subject; nursing home investments; Sullivan on the subject; failure of good care and funding; nurses aids Carol Stern and Paula Kenworthy on the subject; anyone can purchase a nursing home in MA; unionizing and strikes of nursing home workers; John Fussell, V.P. of New England Health Care Employees Union on the subject; Richard H. Rowland, Secretary of the Executive Office of Elder Affairs on the subject; Sullivan on the subject of Medicaid reimbursement rates; cut to black; segment #4: nursing home care alternatives; positivity at North End nursing home, non-profit institution; Audrey Aschiero, Administrator at North End nursing home on the subject; waiting list and prioritizing residents; home based care services; North Hill structure and care; Patrick Zoener, Administrator at North Hills on the subject; Resident of North Hills Phoebe Thibodeau on her experience; cut to black; fear of growing old; Rowland on future of elderly care and the baby boomer generation; Alan Solomont, President of the Massachusetts Federation of Nursing Homes on the subject of long term care; Ford on building more beds for the elderly; Philip Johnston, Secretary in the Executive Office of Human Services on the subject Medicare and nursing home care; Aschiero on the subject of staffing; cut to credits.

OtherCredits; Producer: Lynne McCrea.