According to a recent report of an analysis of U.S. nursing homes that involved reviewing thousands of federal cost reports filed with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS):
- Nationwide more than a quarter of all nursing home operators spent under $10 a day to feed their residents — less than what it costs to buy a Quarter Pounder with cheese, fries and a Coke at many McDonald’s.
- From 2021 through 2024, the number of nursing homes written up for food-related shortcomings nearly tripled, federal data shows.
- The number of dietary complaints to ombudsman offices around the country increased from 5,620 in 2020 to 8,485 in 2023, a jump of more than 50%.
- Outbreaks of foodborne illnesses tied to nursing home kitchens are on the rise, according to data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- Residents in numerous interviews repeatedly complained about being unable to find something appetizing on the menu, even when their meals did meet all standards for quantity and nutritional value.
There are no federal or state regulations on spending for food by nursing homes: half of all nursing homes in the United States spent less than $12.03 per resident for three meals a day.
The report cited examples of nursing home residents being provided inadequate food: an Oregon nursing home inspection report alleged that a single ravioli was served for dinner. In Georgia, a nursing home surveyor found a nursing home using a small ladle to dispense a meal of chicken-and-dumplings, and food from a dinner tray included stuffed cabbage soup that was “not edible.”
The report cited the business plan of a private-equity firm that was seeking to purchase eighteen nursing homes in Ohio that intended to spend just $6 per day per resident on food. Compare that to the $104,000 per year median annual cost of a semi-private room in a nursing home in the United States.
From 2021 through 2024, the number of nursing homes written up for food-related shortcomings nearly tripled (in 2024, inspectors issued 9,484 citations for various food deficiencies across the country, ranging from inappropriate meals for people with restricted diets to filthy prep areas): “In hundreds of inspection reports reviewed by reporters, complaints of rancid meat, spoiled vegetables, moldy fruit and meals, at times prepared in filthy conditions, were not uncommon.”
In 2022, there were 1,127 foodborne illness outbreaks in long-term care facilities in the United States that sickened 26,268 people and resulted in 555 requiring hospitalization and 50 dying. In 2021, there were 568 foodborne illness outbreaks that led to 11,909 people getting sick and resulted in 225 being hospitalized and 29 dying.
Not surprisingly, the report stated that nursing homes that spent more to feed residents had higher CMS rankings.
If you or a loved one suffered injuries (or worse) while a resident of a nursing home in the United States due to malnutrition, lack of adequate food, foodborne illness, or other food-related issues, or the nursing home failing to properly care for a vulnerable adult, you should promptly find a nursing home claim lawyer in your state who may investigate your nursing home claim for you and file a nursing home claim on your behalf or behalf of your loved one, if appropriate.
Click here to visit our website to be connected with medical malpractice attorneys (nursing home claim attorneys) in your U.S. state who may assist you with your nursing home claim, or call us toll-free in the United States at 800-295-3959.
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