While demographic shifts project an increased need for long-term care for an aging population, hundreds of nursing homes close each year, geographically concentrated in minority communities.
A study conducted from 1999-2008 by a group of medical experts show that 1,776 nursing homes closed, representing 11 percent of all nursing homes in the U.S. And nursing homes in Hispanic or black neighborhoods were twice as likely to close.
The findings indicate that Hispanic and black families will have limited access to quality elder care in the future. This will be especially difficult for Hispanic families since Hispanics tend to outlive the general population and are the fastest growing minority in the country.
More importantly, the distance to the nearest operating nursing home has increased over the last ten years, more substantially in poor and minority zip codes than in nonpoor and nonminority zip codes.
