Residents at aging and long-term care facilities statewide, both assisted living facilities and nursing facilities, had the chance to speak directly to New Mexico representatives in May 2024 about their quality of care and living. (Getty Images)
Residents at aging and long-term care facilities statewide, both assisted living facilities and nursing facilities, had the chance to speak directly to New Mexico representatives in May about their quality of care and living.
Representatives from the New Mexico Department of Health made unannounced visits to 91 of the state’s 268 facilities in 13 counties to survey life for people under care. Residents told health officials about unappetizing meals, few to no activities to take part in and a lack of attention to their basic hygiene needs, according to testimonies released in a report this week.
Two facilities in Albuquerque were reported “immediately” after the visits to the Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation hotline , according to state officials. Two facilities in Gallup were also referred to the state for further inspection due to poor reviews during their surprise visit. Another in Albuquerque was reported for a COVID outbreak after its visit in May.
The majority of visits were mostly favorable, including 11 sites that scored “perfectly” under the state’s metrics.
The visits did leave issues that can be addressed across the board, state officials said, and the survey left more than a third with at least one violation to fix.
Directly from the residents
The quality of food was brought up multiple times in different sites statewide, either by residents or by the visiting health officials.
State department of health representatives visited facilities between May 17 and May 19. Their survey included 36 questions ranging from areas that looked into the facility environment and activities to resident appearance and privacy. Health secretary Patrick Allen said these were basic standards all facilities should be able to meet on any given day.
“We wanted to see what family members are likely to see when they’re visiting a facility,” Allen said.
One woman who resides at a Las Cruces assisted living facility said, “the food is not good, and it could use some flavor.” Otherwise, the woman, who was not named in the report due to privacy, said she liked the facility.
Two other residents agreed that they “love” the facility but theorized about “nepotism happening as the administrator’s boyfriend is the cook and his son is the assistant cook,” they told state officials.
Other residents complained that accurate menus were not posted, leaving them in the dark about what their next meal would be. And in a few cases, food trays were left out long enough to go bad.
The department of health noted that quality of food will continue to be an area of interest when visiting facilities, and future visits should be scheduled around meal times.
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Health officials also reported that calendars were not always posted for residents to see the activities planned for them. Visitors said they saw residents in only 70% of the facilities take part in activities. Facilities in some cases did not have a full or part time activities coordinator.
One resident of Bonney Home in Gallup told her visitors from the state that “the activity schedule is just up for show.”
“She stated that she doesn’t participate in any activities and states, ‘I don’t think they do the activities with anyone.’ She stays in her room majority of the time,” the report reads.
Another resident of the same facility reported that there was no phone for residents to use to call their family, and they were not allowed to decorate the walls of their rooms.
“There is no privacy, there is nothing to do but watch TV. The staff are mean, they will not say hi and will get mad sometimes. This resident was upset they did not get to go anywhere and stated they were lonely and sad,” the testimony in the report states.
Because there is a lack of stimulation in some of these facilities, state officials reported seeing residents sleeping in their wheelchairs, which is a safety concern. One observer reported seeing a resident fall out of their wheelchair.
The report noted that specific questions about the activities coordinator would be helpful for future visits.
“The availability of an activities coordinator significantly improved responses to participating in activities and enjoyment of activities,” the report reads. “And while smaller facilities may not be able to have a full-time activities coordinator, having a part-time person to coordinate these events could greatly improve how residents view their current situation.”
Nearly all New Mexico facilities visited in the three-day window are meeting the vast majority of hygiene needs for residents. However, the state report pointed out that it is unsettling that these basic needs are not being completely met.
“At first glance, these appear to be good scores overall, however, when one considers that ensuring residents are clean and have clean clothes that fit is a primary responsibility, it is concerning that almost 10% in each category are not meeting this basic requirement,” the report reads.
Several residents told the state that they were not getting frequent showers. Others had issues with missing clothes and one resident reportedly was left with only a hospital gown to wear.
Thirteen facilities in particular stood out to the state in this area and the report recommended increased monitoring with representatives conferring with residents directly.
Governor says state is not doing enough, calls for more ombudsmen
While only four facilities were awarded a failing grade, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who previously served as the director of the New Mexico Aging and Long-Term Services Department, said this overall performance was not good enough for aging New Mexicans.
“Long gone are the days where we’re not paying attention because it’s COVID. Long gone are the days when we’re looking in the window. We’re coming in and we expect the conditions to be a hell of a lot better than they are today in New Mexico,” Lujan Grisham said.
Lujan Grisham added that it was difficult to understand what the conditions were inside these facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic because of safety restrictions, and emphasized her first-hand experience visiting her own mother through a window at a facility.
One of the visits included an elopement, or a resident leaving the facility unsupervised, with no administrator to help. The person was found, but this was the second time they had left the premises and the first time went unreported, according to state health officials.
During another visit, a department of health representative found a person who had been in soiled clothing overnight for 12 hours.
Representatives in both cases called the Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation hotline to report the situations. Allen said regulatory investigations into the facilities and their practices have already taken place.
The report on the visits noted that signage was often a problem, including for activities and menus, but the abuse hotline and administrator contact information as well. One suggestion was to send updated posters to all facilities in the state.
Lujan Grisham encouraged people to apply for the state’s ombudsman program . Staff and volunteers visit care facilities frequently, talk with individuals and report back to the New Mexico Aging & Long Term Services Department to make sure resident’s needs are met.
“These individuals are advocates that visit the different facilities on a regular basis, building those relationships with the residents,” the department’s secretary Jen Paul Schroer said. “We want to make sure that every single resident, every single New Mexican that lives in these facilities have quality of care and are safe.”
Lujan Grisham asked residents and family members to call the ombudsman program to report both positives and negatives so the state has more information to work with.
“ Help us expand that footprint because we will miss egregious conduct and we should not do this again,” the governor said. “This is going to take vigilance and serious accountability to get right and that’s exactly what’s going to happen.”
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