Missouri nursing home patients will be protected from abusive and negligent caretakers under a bill that passed the Senate.
Nishi Gupta has the story.
The legislation would target employees who don't treat the elderly patients with the care they need. But it would also protect the employees who report violations of sub-standard care. Negligent and abusive nursing home workers could be fined up to ten thouand dollars and penalized with a misdemeanor or felony. Bill co-sponsor and St. Louis City area Senator Pat Dougherty says keeping the elderly in mind is important, and so is holding workers accountable.
The bill requires the state to do background checks on nursing home job applicants. It would also require the Deparment of Health to post recent inspections of nursing homes on the internet.
The bill's passage comes two after getting initial approval in the Senate. It now goes to the House for consideration.
From Jefferson City, Nishi Gupta, KMOX News.
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