美国国家公共电台 NPR AARP Foundation Sues Nursing Home To Stop Illegal Evictions

 

ELISE HU, HOST:

Tomorrow, a California judge could decide if Gloria Single will be reunited with her husband, Bill. She's 83. He's 93. The two lived in the same nursing home until last March. That's when Gloria Single was evicted¹ without warning. NPR's Ina Jaffe covers aging and reports that in California, complaints about nursing home evictions have jumped 73 percent in just a few years.

INA JAFFE, BYLINE³: Gloria Single has dementia. So when her son Aubrey Jones visits her in her new nursing home, he brings old photos. She still recognizes faces from years ago, like when her three sons were little kids.

AUBREY JONES: Look like troublemakers⁴ there, the three of us.

GLORIA SINGLE: You are troublemakers.

JAFFE: But then Jones shows her a recent photo. It was taken at Pioneer House, the Sacramento nursing home where Gloria Single and her husband, Bill, lived before her eviction².

JONES: I love this picture of you and Bill together.

SINGLE: Because he's got his hand on my knee.

JONES: (Laughter).

JAFFE: In court documents, Pioneer House paints a different picture of Gloria Single. They say she was aggressive with staff. When she threw some plastic tableware, they sent her to the hospital for a psych evaluation⁵. The hospital said she was fine, but Pioneer House wouldn't take her back. They said they couldn't care for someone with her needs. So Aubrey Jones protested to the California Department of Health Care Services. The department held a hearing, and Jones won.

JONES: I expected action - definitely expected action.

JAFFE: Instead, Jones got an email explaining that the department that held the hearing has no authority to enforce its own ruling. Enforcement is the job of a different state agency. Jones could start over with them. That's why the legal wing of the AARP Foundation is now suing Pioneer House on Gloria Single's behalf. William Alvarado Rivera is the foundation's senior vice⁶ president for litigation.

WILLIAM ALVARADO RIVERA: There is a lesson to be learned by facilities that there will be accountability for their failure to respect the due process rights of their residents.

JAFFE: And by law, nursing home residents do have rights. For example, they get 30 days' notice before they're moved involuntarily. And if they're in the hospital, the nursing home must hold their bed for a week. Rivera says Gloria Single didn't get any of that and was stuck in the hospital for four and a half months.

RIVERA: In the absence of state enforcement, it will depend on individuals like Mrs. Single having to advocate for themselves to get their rights respected and enforced.

JAFFE: Public records obtained by NPR show that California nursing homes rarely pay a price for illegally evicting⁷ residents. Just 7 percent of facilities that violated the law were fined. Most of the fines were $1,000 or less, and most were not paid in full. California's Secretary of Health and Human Services declined NPR's request for an interview. But Jim Gomez defends the way the state enforces the law.

JIM GOMEZ: It's not lax. I think it's about right.

JAFFE: He's the CEO of the California Association of Health Facilities, which represents most nursing homes. He says that some residents are evicted because they're a danger to others.

GOMEZ: When the Department of Public Health reviews that, they say, this was a reasonable decision because it does not make sense for that person to come back here.

JAFFE: Pioneer House and its parent company declined to be interviewed. Their written statement says, in part, we intend to vigorously defend the allegations set forth⁸ in the lawsuit⁹. As for Aubrey Jones, he says the suit isn't just about his mother anymore.

JONES: If anything, I want the dial to be turned a little bit so this actually is less likely to happen to someone else.

JAFFE: Though most of all, he wants to see his mother and stepfather reunited for the little bit of time they have left. Ina Jaffe, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF SUFJAN STEVENS SONG, "CONCERNING THE UFO SIGHTING NEAR HIGHLAND, ILLINOIS")

1 evicted   

v.（依法从房屋里或土地上）驱逐，赶出( evict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• They had evicted their tenants for non-payment of rent. 他们赶走了未交房租的房客。

2 eviction   

n.租地等的收回

参考例句：

• The family have won a temporary reprieve from eviction.这个家庭暂时免于被逐出。
• He claimed damages for unlawful eviction.他要求对非法驱逐作出赔偿。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 troublemakers   

n.惹是生非者，捣乱者( troublemaker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was employed to chuck out any troublemakers. 他受雇把捣乱者赶走。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She had automatically labelled the boys as troublemakers. 她不假思索地认定这些男孩子是捣蛋鬼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 evaluation   

n.估价，评价；赋值

参考例句：

• I attempted an honest evaluation of my own life.我试图如实地评价我自己的一生。
• The new scheme is still under evaluation.新方案还在评估阶段。

6 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

7 evicting   

v.（依法从房屋里或土地上）驱逐，赶出( evict的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Money spent on evicting sex offenders cannot be spent on treating them. 花在打击性侵犯者上的钱并不能花在治疗这一社会问题上。 来自互联网
• Money spent on evicting sex offenders cannot be spent on treating them. Does this matter? 钱被花费在驱逐性犯罪者而不是用做教育他们，这样做真的好么？ 来自互联网

8 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

9 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。