Description
The book is a substantive 380-page journalistic novel hybrid written by a retired former journalist and certified internal auditor, William J. Beerman, Sr.
The author intends the book to provide important information to the public and especially to those who might have a nursing home for themselves or a loved one in their current or future lives.
The book is named after William’s mother, Mary Regina, who died after a short stay in a nursing home. After Mary Regina’s death, William filed suit over the mistreatment his mother had suffered, and he began looking into how the government oversees nursing homes. What he found out was alarming.
This book presents in an easy-to-read, memoir-like framework, a three-part narrative: (1) the human-interest background story of Mary Regina and William, (2) details of Mary Regina’s hospital and nursing home experiences, and (3) what William learned about government oversight of nursing homes.
The book covers state attorneys general lawsuits involving 65 nursing homes and more than 1 million patient-days of nursing home care. The investigations for the lawsuits elicited reports on nursing home operations from former employees who became confidential witnesses. The investigations looked not only at resident treatment, but at how the nursing homes interacted with oversight agencies, and with their parent corporations. Audits by state and federal auditors, and the work of a nursing home quality improvement task force are also covered.