I'm Janine Tangney and I am leading this petition.  I've had close family members who received wonderful nursing home care. Knowing they were in good hands gave us peace of mind. That's why I was so upset to learn about the neglect patients experienced at HRC ManorCare, while investors continued to profit.

Under the stewardship of private-equity firm, Carlyle, HRC ManorCare severely neglected nursing home patients before filing for bankruptcy in March. Before Carlyle bought HRC ManorCare, elderly care was in line with U.S. averages. Once Carlyle took over, HRC ManorCare’s 230 locations started to have to do more with less, as the private equity firm trimmed away budgets to benefit investors. Over five years, Carlyle earned $61 million by slashing staff and funds for care.

Cuts meant HRC ManorCare locations went without replacing broken equipment, and had as many as 60 patients to every Nurse or Certified Nurses Assistant (CNA). Tell Carlyle that elderly care is more important than lining investor’s pockets.

Actions have consequences. One of the wealthiest private-equity firms in the world put 25,000 HRC ManorCare patients in peril for the sake of profits. From 2013-2017, health code violations at HRC ManorCare rose by 26%. Violations were centered around neglect, namely: not preventing or treating bedsores, not helping patients with hygiene and eating, not providing care for people with special circumstances - like prosthetics or colonoscopies, and giving patients the wrong medication. All of these issues related to a lack of staff and a lack of funding to replace broken equipment.

The accounts of neglect are shocking. A women on her deathbed from uterine cancer was left on her bedpan for so long that she bruised. A disabled man with long dirty fingernails told investigators that he was seldom tended to, and that bedside buttons were rarely staffed - leaving many residents to soil themselves while waiting for help. Another man was given so many opioids that he had to go to the hospital. When one staff member was escorting six patients who couldn’t walk, one of the residents flipped backward out of their wheelchair and had a brain hemorrhage. In another account, a nurse’s aide had to lift a paraplegic woman without a helper, she fell, fractured her hip and hit her head on the floor. These stories are not isolated. They are the price of budget cuts and a desire to increase profits. Tell Carlyle the welfare of nursing home residents is more important than profits.

Carlyle’s cuts have resulted in needless suffering to people at the end of their lives. If Carlyle continues to chip away at HRC ManorCare’s budget, lives could be lost. No elderly person should be neglected. Tell Carlyle to stop chipping away at HRC ManorCare.