JUSTICE DEPARTMENT REACHES SETTLEMENT REGARDING CONDITIONS AT BANKS-JACKSON-COMMERCE NURSING HOME

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department today announced that it has reached an agreement with the Banks-Jackson-Commerce Medical Center and Nursing Home (BJC) in Commerce, Georgia regarding civil rights violations in the nursing home units of BJC.

“Nursing home residents, our parents and grandparents, deserve sympathetic and dignified care,” said R. Alexander Acosta, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. “We are pleased to announce today’s agreement, which will bring prompt and meaningful reforms to this facility.”

The three-year investigation revealed numerous civil rights violations, including the failure to provide adequate nutritional services, the improper use of restraints, and the improper use of psychotropic medications.

Under the terms of the agreement, BJC will address and correct each violation identified by the Department. The nursing home will also ensure that each resident is served in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Since 2001, the Department of Justice has opened 44 similar investigations into terms of conditions of confinement at nursing homes, mental health facilities, residences for persons with developmental disabilities, juvenile justice facilities, and prisons. These figures represent over a 100 percent increase over the 20 such investigations initiated over the preceding three years.

More information about the Special Litigation Section of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division can be found at <http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/index.html.>

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