CHARLESTON – A prominent Charleston law firm has launched a West Virginia nursing home directory database on its website to help families research nursing home ratings and complaints associated with the quality of care, staffing, safety violations and related issues.
The directory on The Bell Law Firm's site allows families to gather information about the care their loved one is receiving.
Nursing home listings include general data, such as the facility's number of beds and location information as well as complaints against the facility, ratings for a number of safety aspects and a full list of violations and whether there is a patterns of violations.
Harry F. Bell Jr., managing partner of the firm, said the firm has received calls from people who have not been involved in lawsuits, but simply had questions regarding assisted living facilities in their area.
"We are West Virginians helping West Virginians," Bell said. "We are excited to provide this information for anyone who needs it.
Bell also said visitors who believe there may be neglect or abuse occurring to their loved one can submit a report to the firm through the nursing home's listing and receive a no-obligation, no-cost case review.
"I am proud that we have a team of dedicated attorneys, paralegals and staff here at The Bell Law Firm to fight for seniors and families dealing with nursing home abuse and neglect," Bell said. "We have made [nursing home abuse] a key part of our law firm for a decade and bring a wealth of experience in holding accountable facilities and corporations that don’t deliver the care that residents deserve.
"With almost 20 people at a West Virginia law firm with combined decades of proven courtroom experience, we ensure we bring the experienced resources to bear in going after these facilities."
The firm's website already has other resources to identify and prevent abuse and neglect in assisted living facilities, Bell said. That includes blog posts and articles about spotting common signs of neglect or cruelty to an elderly person, information on types of injuries residents may sustain and underlying causes of abuse, as well as many other resources.
The database has assisted living facilities in 83 West Virginia cities, including four facilities in Charleston and five facilities in Huntington.
For more information about the database, go to www.belllaw.com.