Currently in the United States, there is a greater number of people over the age of 65 than there has ever been. More and more families are faced with the stressful decision of placing a loved one in a nursing home or assisted living facility because the family members cannot take care of the medical and day-to-day needs of their loved one.

Many families in Missouri entrust their loved ones to nursing homes across the state. While some facilities strive to provide a standard of care, others make a lot of promises about providing good care, but end up disappointing families with substandard care, abuse, and neglect toward their loved ones. Too often when families complain about bad care, they are either ignored or the changes that are made last only a few days before going back to the status quo. To help families effectively submit complaints with Missouri nursing homes, the personal injury attorneys at Sticklen Dreyer Tinney have several tips below.

The Missouri Health Service Regulation (HSR) encourages you to bring your complaint to the attention of the healthcare facility first. Generally, this is done by contacting a patient advocate, patient ombudsman, the customer relations department, or a representative from Administration.
If, after alerting the facility about the concern, you are not satisfied with the response from the facility, you may then forward your complaint to HSR. When submitting a complaint, the department requests that you provide your name and contact information.

Providing your name and contact information enables HSR to contact you in the event additional information is needed. Complaints should provide as much detail as possible: names of those involved, date of the incident(s), location and specific concern(s).

Abuse and neglect of residents in nursing homes, skilled care facilities and hospitals can cause a variety of painful and life-threatening injuries. Some types of claims we handle include the following: bed sores, falls and fractures, dehydration and malnutrition, elopement (wandering and leaving the facility), prescription errors, misdiagnosis, sepsis (and other infections) and physical abuse or restraint.

The attorneys at the Sticklen Dreyer Tinney Law Firm have investigated, reviewed, and tried abuse and neglect cases against nursing homes, long-term care facilities, and hospitals. We stand up for people who have been victims of abuse or neglect, who many times cannot speak up for themselves. If you suspect that a nursing home, long-term care facility, or hospital mistreated your loved one, please contact our personal injury attorneys in Columbia MO and personal injury attorneys in Joplin MO today at stickleninjurylaw.com.