Publicly-owned Nursing Homes in Tennessee

Tennessee has over 350 nursing homes, most are "for-profit" corporations. But 27 of the states facilities are owned by cities, counties and the state of Tennessee.

Our state has been slow to implement the 1999 Olmstead U.S. Supreme Court decision that held unnecessary segregation in institutions was discrimination and a violation of the ADA. It is only reasonable to believe the publicly-owned nursing homes would be the first to comply with the Court's ruling and offer persons the choice of staying in the nursing homes or receiving services in the community. 

Tennessee has no plan of compliance with Olmstead yet.  The Tennessee Olmstead Coalition is working for a comprehensive, effectively working plan to avoid unnecessary segregation by providing community based services. 

Below is information from the Medicaid and Medicare Services. Notice that many of the publicly-owned nursing homes are huge and that Tennessee's 27 publicly-owned facilities hold 3,600 people.

This information comes from the "Nursing Home Compare  website at: http://www.medicare.gov/

-Tim Wheat