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Recently I spoke with an acquaintance who expressed concern about the nursing home she chose for her dad. After experiencing a stroke, he was hospitalized for a few days. Sooner than expected, the hospital informed his family that he was ready for discharge. Suddenly they needed to find a nursing home where he could go for rehab.
Not knowing anything about local options—and feeling rushed—she simply picked a nursing home from a list provided by the hospital. Later, thinking about the fact that this was a for-profit facility and part of a large chain, she became concerned that her dad wouldn’t receive good care.
Have any of you been in a similar situation? Today I thought it would be helpful to explore the key differences between for-profit and nonprofit facilities. We’ll also look at things to consider when choosing a nursing home.
It’s important to note that nursing homes can have a wide variety of organizational structures. Some are quite complex. However, as a general rule, there are three main types: for-profit, nonprofit, and government-owned.
For-Profit
According to the Centers for Disease Control, 69.8% of U.S. nursing homes were for-profit in 2014. These nursing homes use their earnings to benefit the owners and stakeholders.
When looking at overall statistics, for-profit nursing homes historically receive more deficiencies during government inspections. They also tend to have lower levels of staffing.
That being said, many for-profit nursing homes provide excellent care. As an example, many years ago I worked in a large for-profit facility in Minnesota. The residents received top-notch care. Besides, when talking with the primary owner, it was apparent that the wellbeing of the residents was his top priority.
Nonprofit
Just like for-profit facilities, nonprofit nursing homes can make money. However, instead of going to stockholders, they reinvest the money in the nursing home.
Nonprofit facilities are often operated by a group with a particular religious or ethnic affiliation. A nonprofit nursing home is still a business, however, and it needs to operate efficiently to stay in business.
What about nursing home chains?
Often, when we hear that a nursing home is part of a chain, we tend to think of lower-quality care.
However, it’s important to note that a nursing home chain simply means that two or more nursing homes are owned and/or operated by the same group. Both for-profit and nonprofit nursing homes can be part of a chain.
For example, the nursing home where I volunteer is a nonprofit facility that’s affiliated with the Evangelical Free Church. In addition, they are part of a chain of several health care facilities in 4 different states.
If you want to know who owns a particular nursing home, simply enter the name of the facility in the search bar on the Medicare website.
What does all of this mean?
In my experience, the reputation of an individual nursing home is more important than whether it’s for-profit or nonprofit, or whether it’s part of a chain. Many resources are available to help people choose the most appropriate facility for their needs. These are two I recommend:
If you go through every step of these recommendations, finding a nursing home becomes a very time-intensive process. That’s why I encourage everyone to be aware of nursing home options before the need arises.
I doubt anyone puts living in a nursing home on their bucket list. Most people don’t even imagine themselves ever needing nursing home care. However, according to HealthDay, over 50% of Americans will live in a nursing home at some point in their life. Understanding our options and voicing our preferences in advance can prevent a great deal of stress for ourselves and our loved ones.
What has been your experience with for-profit vs nonprofit nursing homes? Please share in the comment section!
Jean Lunt says
I have seen a wide range of care, as with anything in life. For the most part though I feel that church owned non-profits are better for the resident only because there tends to be more people around to help. More volunteers! The for profits usually staff as low as possible and don’t do much to attract or maintain volunteers. Church run ones have built-in volunteer pools and tend to run more robust activity programs because of it. Now that does not help with things like showering or the food but it does help with moral and getting personal attention.
Diane says
Hi Jean,
Thank you for sharing your insights!