Americans are increasingly mobile and medical advances have improved our life expectancy. These two trends have resulted in more people living into their advanced years, but without the nearby family system that once provided both medical and social supports. To fill this void, assisted living facilities have been taking care of an increasing proportion of our seniors.
Newsday reports that New York State health officials are probing three Long Island assisted living facilities for problems ranging from failing to report a resident's death to inadequate supervision after three elderly women with dementia wandered away from their centers.