OIG: 92% of Nursing Homes Have Hired a Convicted Criminal

A startling new report from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) reveals that nine out of 10 American nursing homes have at least one convicted criminal on staff.

To obtain the results in its report, the OIG checked the names of roughly 35,000 nursing home employees at 260 facilities nationwide against criminal databases maintained by the FBI. Among the agency's findings:

• 92 percent of the nursing homes sampled had hired at least one convicted criminal
• Roughly 5 percent of all nursing home employees have at least one criminal conviction
• The most common offense (44 percent) committed was a crime against property (such as burglary, shoplifting or writing bad checks)
• Approximately one in eight of the employees who were convicted criminals were convicted of a crime against a person, such as assault
• About 16 percent of the convicted criminals were convicted while employed at a nursing facility

In light of these staggering discoveries, the OIG recommends developing procedures to help implement a nationwide criminal background check program. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the so-called "healthcare law") requires that a nationwide criminal background check be established for potential nursing home employees who would have direct patient access.

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