By Nadia Ramlagan
Rural West Virginia counties are already facing shortages of home health care services and nursing home workers. Now, they are facing accusations of alleged misconduct by contract workers in state nursing homes.
A new lawsuit cited a “systems failure” from top to bottom, where officials have allowed front line workers to act in ways that harm patients.
Michael Folio, legal director for the nonprofit Disability Rights of West Virginia, the group behind the lawsuit, outlined its goals.
“What we’ve identified is even the regulatory bodies in West Virginia that are charged with overseeing these facilities are so understaffed, so underfunded, that we oftentimes are reporting incidents to them, even though it’s their job to actually uncover these incidents and take appropriate action,” Folio explained.
The lawsuit alleged state officials knew about abuse, harassment, and retaliation of fellow employees and patients. According to the health care advocacy group KFF, there were more than 9,400 people living in certified nursing home facilities in West Virginia in 2024.
Folio pointed to documented incidents of abuse and neglect over the past year in state long-term care facilities. One case is now under criminal investigation, where hot water temperatures were said to reach between 134 and 140 degrees.
“What did they do? They ignored it for five months,” Folio contended. “They placed an elderly gentleman who had dementia and he was nonverbal in this water and left him there.”
According to the National Rural Healthcare Association, rural health facilities still have severe staffing shortages with fewer clinicians per capita, and sicker and older patients on average compared to urban areas.