Oklahoma County DA David Prater speaks in support of cameras in care homes

State nursing homes should allow families of nursing home residents to put video cameras in their rooms, Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater said Thursday.

"If they’re above-board and fully staffed and take care of the residents, what do they have to hide?” Prater asked during a hearing on nursing homes at the state Capitol. "I would think they would offer that option to the residents.”

Contacted later, Becky Moore, executive director of the Oklahoma Association of Health Care Providers, said cameras are in place in common areas in some nursing homes. She said residents are hesitant to have cameras placed in their rooms.

"There is no law against putting cameras in nursing homes,” she said. "Most of our personal care is at bedside, and residents don’t want people taking pictures of their personal care.”

A camera "in more cases than not is used to sue a nursing facility,” Moore said. "That is an issue, I’m sure, for many providers.”

Also at the hearing, Wes Bledsoe, founder of the Oklahoma nursing home watchdog group A Perfect Cause, said a state program that gives financial incentives to nursing homes is "a dismal system.” The system is based on a five-star rating and allows participating nursing homes to receive a bonus for each star they earn.

Some five-star nursing homes got up to a $198,000 bonus the first year, while others that rated one star got nothing, according to the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, which administers the program. About $13 million has been paid in the past year.