1. Provide the title of your story or series and the names of the journalists involved.
Main story: Nursing homes received millions while cutting staff, wages other works: Video: Death at San Jose nursing home leaves family searching for answers By Lisa Pickoff-White After receiving state bonuses, Santa Ana home cut care By Tony Saavedra, Orange County Register Nursing homes attempt to charge booze, ski tickets to state By Christina Jewett Governor seeks more accountability for nursing homes By Christina Jewett State to audit nursing home care By Christina Jewett Other contributing journalists include Lisa Pickoff-White, formerly of California Watch; Tony Saavedra, Orange County Register; John Woolfolk, San Jose Mercury News; Sandy Kleffman, Contra Costa Times The story ran in various forms in the following outlets: Contra Costa Times? * KCBS? * KGO? * KQED – California Report? * Long Beach Press Telegram? * Oakland Tribune? * Orange County Register? * Riverside Press Enterprise? * Santa Rosa Press Democrat? * San Jose Mercury News? * Sacramento Bee * Ventura County Star
2. List date(s) this work was published or aired.
April 17 to April 19, 2010; May 17, 2010; Oct. 25, 2010
3. Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
The story tested the claims that were made to sell a 2004 law giving California nursing homes a major pay raise. We found that nursing homes saw a funding increase of nearly a billion dollars over five years. Yet more than 230 homes either cut staff, wages or let caregiver levels slip beneath a state-mandated minimum. Reporters throughout California put a heartbeat to the problem, telling the stories of local patients who suffered harm in homes that reaped profit but cut care. We also looked at how the new payment system opened the state to fraud and abuse, including nursing home companies that tried to bill the state for booze, spa treatments in Hawaii and a flight to the Middle East. Less than a month after the story ran in newspapers, on TV and on radio stations throughout the state, the governor's administration announced a raft of changes to the nursing home funding law. The "quality and accountability" changes were approved as part of the state budget. Now nursing home inspectors will look at payroll records to check on staffing levels and fine homes up to $30,000 for understaffing. Additionally, a portion of nursing home funding will be skimmed off and returned to homes that do the best job reducing bedsores and physical restraints, and several other quality measures. State officials, resident advocates and nursing home owners continue to meet to discuss these changes.
4. Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
Documents used included nursing home inspection and citation report, budget and stakeholder meeting documents and minutes, state nursing home finance data analyzed using an SQL program and Excel, nursing home audit documents obtained through Public Records Act Requests, court records, transcripts of public meetings. All of these documents formed the basis for the reporters' understanding of the material as well as the stories that appeared throughout California.
5. Explain types of human sources used.
Families of nursing home residents, nursing home owners, resident advocates, state data experts, physicians/academics, state officials, nursing home trade group leaders, attorneys.
6. Results (if any).
As stated above: Less than a month after the story ran in newspapers, on TV and on radio stations throughout the state, the governor's administration announced a raft of changes to the nursing home funding law. The "quality and accountability" changes were approved as part of the state budget. Now nursing home inspectors will look at payroll records to check on staffing levels and fine homes up to $30,000 for understaffing. Additionally, a portion of nursing home funding will be skimmed off and returned to homes that do the best job reducing bedsores and physical restraints, and several other quality measures. State officials, resident advocates and nursing home owners continue to meet to discuss these changes.
7. Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
There have been no corrections to the story. We presented our findings to the nursing home trade group during our reporting. They wrote us a letter listing their objections to our methods. We reviewed them, took them into account and published them online with the story.
8. Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
Plan and organize wisely. Do the data work first, from top to bottom. Once you clearly define the problem, you can be optimally effective at finding the human stories to illustrate that problem.