News

The Michigan Elder Justice Initiative and Michigan Long Term Care Ombudsman presented in front of the Michigan Senate Oversight Committee. The hearing was sparked by our June 2025 report, "Public Funds into Private Pockets: How Nursing Homes May Be Hiding Profits and Depriving Residents of Care and Quality." MEJI and MLTCOP staff discussed the poor quality of care and life that many Michigan nursing home residents experience as well as the need for more financial transparency and accountability in nursing home financing.

MEJI congratulates MLive reporter Matt Miller for his recent national and state awards for investigative reports on Michigan nursing homes. Matt's careful, thorough, and dogged research and reporting have illuminated the dark side of some of the state's worst nursing homes where MLive observed residents are being used as "pawns for profits."

MEJI is pleased to be presenting on April 29th to the Michigan Senate Oversight Committee about Michigan nursing homes' financial practices and the impact on nursing home residents' quality of life and care.

"Some residents are not able to physically use a phone or computer, but newer devices allow residents to connect through simple voice commands," Salli Pung, who leads the program, wrote in an email to the Detroit Free Press. "The ombudsman program believes that cameras can have a great benefit to residents to ensure their needs are being met and care is being delivered timely."

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The Michigan Elder Justice Initiative (MEJI) announces the launch of the Michigan Advancing Guardianship Innovations Center (MAGIC), a new program aimed at maximizing autonomy and dignity in Michigan’s adult guardianship system. This work is supported by a generous two-year grant from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund.

This Black History Month, the Michigan Elder Justice Initiative highlighted multiple Black disability and elder justice advocates: Youself Seegars, Travar Pettway, and Dr. Feranmi Okanlami.

Alison Hirschel was pleased to participate in and present at the 2026 University of Southern California Judith D. Tamkin International Symposium on Elder Abuse. On February 27th, Alison and her Co-Presenter, Lori Smetanka, Executive Director of the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long Term Care, kicked off a day of discussion on the state of nursing homes and the need for additional advocacy and research related to elder mistreatment in that setting.

The Michigan Long Term Care Ombudsman Program and MEJI are proud to support the Statewide Residents' Council in advocating for an increase in the personal needs allowance for nursing home residents on Medicaid. The $60 allowance, which was adopted decades ago, is the amount of monthly income most nursing home residents are allowed to keep if their stay is being paid for by Medicaid.
Residents need to rely on the limited allowance for everything from their cellphone contracts and clothes to haircuts, personal care items, reading material, snacks, and stamps and birthday cards for their family or friends. Many find that they have to make painful choices between urgently needed items and often have to wait months to save up for a small item or go without. They tell ombudsmen that having enough money for their basic expenses is a matter of dignity as well as necessity.

The conversation followed Bridge's extensive investigation of Michigan nursing homes. The articles revealed the suffering some nursing home residents endure and the pervasive problems of understaffing, inadequate training, and failure to meet residents' needs.