Idaho

• 2 years from date of occurrence. (Idaho Stat. Title 5 (Proceedings in Civil Actions in Courts of Record), Chapter 2 (Limitation of Actions), §5-219 – Actions against officers, for penalties, on bonds, and for professional malpractice or for personal injuries)
• Medical malpractice – 2 years.  In cases involving a foreign object, the cause of action accrues when the injured party knows or should have known of the injury, and the cause of action may be brought within two years of act complained of or one year following the date of accrual, whichever is later. (Idaho Stat. Title 5 (Proceedings in Civil Actions in Courts of Record), Chapter 2 (Limitation of Actions), §5-219 – Actions against officers, for penalties, on bonds, and for professional malpractice or for personal injuries)

• $250,000 cap on non-economic damages per claimant in personal injury and wrongful death actions. The cap will be adjusted annually beginning July 1, 2004 based on the average annual wage. The limit does not apply to causes of action arising out of willful or reckless misconduct, or felonious actions or punitive damages. (§6-1603)
• Punitive damages – Capped at $250,000 or an amount equal to three times compensatory damages contained in the judgment.
  (§6-1604 – Limitation on punitive damages)

• 2 years. (Idaho Stat. Title 5 (Proceedings in Civil Actions in Courts of Record), Chapter 2 (Limitation of Actions), §5-219 – Actions against officers, for penalties, on bonds, and for professional malpractice or for personal injuries)

• $250,000 cap on non-economic damages per claimant in personal injury and wrongful death actions. The cap will be adjusted annually beginning July 1, 2004 based on the average annual wage. The limit does not apply to causes of action arising out of willful or reckless misconduct, or felonious actions or punitive damages. (§6-1603)
• Punitive damages – Capped at $250,000 or an amount equal to three times compensatory damages contained in the judgment. (§6-1604 – Limitation on punitive damages)

• Idaho Department of Health and Welfare
• Adult Protective Services
• Bureau of Facility Standards
• Commission on Aging
• Long Term Care Ombudsman

• Adult Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation Act – (Idaho Code Title 39 (Health and Safety), Chapter 53, §§39-5301-5312)
• Adult Protective Services – (Idaho Code Title 67 (State Government and State Affairs, Chapter 50 (Commission on Aging), §67-5011)
• Rules of the Board of Examiners of Nursing Home Administrators  (§24.09.01)

• Young, Middle Aged & Seniors. Nursing Homes Struggle To Care For An Increasingly Diverse Group Of Residents

The Enquirer-Herald had a really interesting article regarding younger people in nursing homes.  Increasingly, nursing home are becoming a place for people of all ages.  Over the past 20 years, the number of residents at nursing homes has surged.  Today, people under 65 comprise almost 10% of the nursing home population. 

At Orchards Rehabilitation and Care Canter, an Idaho nursing home, four out of five people are under 55.  According to administrator Mindy Shepard, a lack of alternatives is the real reason for younger people are entering facilities once deemed only for the aged.  "It's not that uncommon because we have a gap in the health care system between the hospital and the nursing home," says Sheppard.

• Pressure Sores Are A Problem Facing All Nursing Home Patients .... Yet, They Remain Generally Preventable

It appears even in idyllic Idaho, pressure sores are a tremendous problem facing nursing home patients.  As attorney John Kormanik discusses in his recentNursing Home Abuse Advocate Blog entry,  Idaho Facilities Cited For Failing To Prevent Pressure Sores, a staggering 40.5% of Idaho Nursing Homes were cited for violations relating to improper patient care.

• Special Focus Facilities: The Worst Nursing Homes Of All

I get a large number of questions from nursing home patients and families regarding focused on finding the 'best' facilities available.  For some reason, I get an even larger number of people who ask me who the 'worst' facilities are.  Maybe there's some sport associated with identifying these facilities? But for to today, let's feed the need to identify the poor performing nursing homes-- the Special Focus Facilities.

If you are a nursing home operator or employee the Special Focus Facility (SFF) is definitely a club you want no part of.  Rather, the SFF was created by The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) as an assemblage of facilities that deserve special recognition for the inadequate care they typically provide to their patients. 

• Your Nursing Home Has Likely Been Cited For Violations

Bloomberg reported that more than 90 percent of U.S. nursing homes in each of the past three years were cited for violating federal standards, according to a government report.  The article substantiates that many nursing homes are simply not doing an adequate job caring for our nations elderly population.  According to the inspector general's report for the Department of Health and Human Services: