SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Today, the California State Assembly voted 55-16 to approve a bill by Assemblymember Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont) that would create a Bill of Rights for seniors in Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly to ensure their basic dignity and autonomy. AB 2171, which is supported by a large number of senior and consumer groups, now goes to Governor Brown for his consideration.
“This is a tremendous achievement for our seniors and it moves us another step closer to raising the standard of care in Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly,” Wieckowski said. “For the first time, we would have in statute a set of rights for RCFE residents that cover informed consent, financial management, privacy, adequate staffing and other issues. It is an important bill about protecting our mothers and fathers and our grandparents.”
After a number of stories by the Bay Area News Group, San Diego Union-Tribune, Center for Health Reporting, Pro-Publica, Frontline, and newspapers across the state, Wieckowski and other legislators introduced a package of bills to add more transparency and inspections, increase the shockingly low cap on fines, and generally strengthen overall oversight of the industry.
“We have an aging population in California and the number of people going into these homes is likely to continuing growing in the future,” Wieckowski said. “It’s our responsibility to make sure that adequate measures are in place to protect their health and safety. Establishing a Bill of Rights for these vulnerable seniors would enable us to do a better job of addressing the kinds of abuses elderly residents have experienced around the state.”
In 2012, the California Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program received more than 4,000 complaints against Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly. Wieckowski’s bill is supported by the California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, AARP, the Elder Abuse Task Force of Santa Clara County, the California Long-Term Ombudsman Association, the Contra Costa Advisory Council on Aging and several other senior and consumer groups across the state.
Editorial note: above news is based on release provided by the office of Mr. Wieckowski and is believed accurate but not guaranteed.
