N.J. must get tougher on nursing home operators that put seniors at risk, long-awaited report says [Video]

New Jersey relies too heavily on nursing homes to care for its frailest senior citizens and does not hold the worst operators accountable as they repeatedly fail to meet staffing and safety standards, according to a long-awaited, post-pandemic analysis of the long-term care industry.

The report, commissioned by the state, called for tougher sanctions against nursing homes that persistently fail to meet standards of care. And it urged policy makers and lawmakers to make it easier for seniors to receive support and remain in their own homes.

The findings in the 74-page report were released Friday by the New Jersey Task Force on Long-Term Care Quality and Safety, created in 2020 to examine the reasons behind the staggering loss of life in nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is not clear why the Murphy administration took about 10 months after the task force completed its work to make its study public.