This is an archive page. The links are no longer being updated.

REMARKS BY DONNA E. SHALALA, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Place: WHITE HOUSE NURSING HOME EVENT, WASHINGTON, D.C
Date: JULY 21, 1998

We're here today to announce a new initiative to improve the health and safety of nursing homes in America. People deserve nursing homes that are safe, care that is of high quality, and treatment that is dignified and compassionate. That is our commitment. Because seniors will never be ignored nor forgotten.

From the start, we've battled every effort to break the nation's basic promises to our seniors. And from the start, we've demanded that nursing homes provide the best care and the most compassion for residents. In 1986, the nation was shocked by a new report detailing the deplorable conditions in our nursing homes. A year later, Congress passed a nursing home reform law providing new health and safety standards. But the most important measures -- the monitoring and enforcement -- languished on the books. Regulations remained unwritten. For too many nursing homes, it was business as usual.

Until President Clinton came to office. On July 1, 1995 -- over the objections of the nursing home industry and many in Congress -- and after months of hard work by many in my Department -- we issued the strongest regulations in history to make sure nursing homes are healthy and safe. And we've worked hard with states to enforce those standards. But it's simply not enough to issue regulations and assume they're working. Not when lives may hang in the balance. That's why we hired an outside contractor to examine how well the States and nursing homes are carrying out the new health and safety standards. And in a report we're sending to Congress today, we've found significant improvements in nursing home quality of life and care.

That is very good news, indeed. But we can never let down our guard. Our new report has also found that the States, nursing homes and others still need to do a better job, because problems persist. State inspections are often far too predictable, and rarely are conducted at nights or on weekends. Several states have rarely cited nursing homes for substandard care. Too many nursing home residents continue to suffer unnecessarily from bed sores, malnutrition and dehydration.

We can do better. To start with, we're urging Congress to reauthorize a strong nursing home ombudsman program through the US Administration on Aging. Ombudsmen are an excellent source of information about poor-quality nursing homes and abuse or neglect of patients. But working with AOA is just one way our new HCFA Administrator -- Nancy Ann Min DeParle -- has made improving nursing homes a top priority. I want to thank her, in particular, for developing the strategy the President will announce today.

Finally, I want to introduce the President who's done more keep America's promise to seniors than any President in history. Whether it's putting more care in Medicare, more trust in the Medicare Trust Fund, or more security in Social Security. So it's my pleasure to introduce the President of the United States, President Clinton.