[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 99 (Wednesday, July 26, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1326]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 ASSURING QUALITY OF ELDER CARE IN NURSING HOMES--THE INTRODUCTION OF 
         H.R. 4898 TO REQUIRE AIR CONDITIONING IN NURSING HOMES

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 25, 2000

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, on June 15th and 16th of this year, three 
elderly patients died at the SunBridge Care and Rehabilitation home in 
Burlingame, California, in my Congressional District and five others at 
the home were hospitalized during a heat wave when temperatures in the 
county soared to 108 deg.. When county officials visited the nursing 
home in Burlingame during last month's heat wave, fans were pointed 
toward staff, while elderly people were dying. Those deaths are under 
investigation by state and local officials in California.
  Mr. Speaker, we cannot have the federal government financially 
supporting nursing homes where conditions are life-threatening. That is 
why I have introduced H.R. 4898, legislation which will require air 
conditioning in nursing home facilities which receive Medicare or 
Medicaid funding. If the operators of these profit-making facilities 
are not willing to assure humane conditions for the elderly living 
there, they will not receive federal funds.
  H.R. 4898 amends the Social Security Act to add the requirement for 
air conditioning to the specifications which nursing home facilities 
must meet in order to be eligible for federal funds. Because Medicare 
and Medicaid provide a major portion of the funding for many of the 
patients at most nursing homes in the country, this legislation will 
require virtually all such facilities to have air conditioning.
  Mr. Speaker, these deaths in California occurred just a week after 
the release of a congressional study which was conducted at the request 
of the members of the Bay Area congressional delegation. This study 
revealed how substandard the conditions are in nursing homes in our 
area. The study found that only 6 percent of Bay Area nursing homes 
were in ``substantial compliance'' with federal standards, and 41 
percent of homes were found to have violations of federal standards 
``that caused actual harm to residents or placed them at risk of death 
or serious injury.'' In short, this report says our nursing homes are 
in crisis, and corrective action is necessary. Just one week later we 
saw the consequences in the tragedy in Burlingame.
  Mr. Speaker, this need for air conditioning is not just a California 
problem. The heat wave now affecting much of the Southern states over 
the past two weeks has been blamed for the deaths of at least 12 people 
in Texas and four in Louisiana. Heat kills. It is an absolute outrage 
that elderly people in nursing homes are dying because it's too hot. We 
need to take action to protect our elderly who are in nursing homes. I 
urge my colleagues to join me as cosponsors of H.R. 4898 so that we can 
protect our elderly citizens, our father and mothers, grandfathers and 
grandmothers, brothers and sisters, and friends from the heat when they 
are cared for in nursing homes.

                          ____________________