RICHMOND, Va. — Members of Virginia's newly created nursing home advisory board, which was established in an effort to improve quality and accountability in the long-term care system, engaged in at-times passionate and emotional discussion during its second meeting in Richmond on Thursday.

During the meeting, board member Sam Kukich delivered a blunt message to the body: “We have a fire. We have a bad fire. The house is burning down."

Kukich founded her advocacy organization Dignity for the Aged after she said her mother-in-law received inadequate care at five different facilities in the Tidewater region between 2016 and 2019.

"I had no idea that when we were paying $10,000 a month that there would be any issues with regard to basic hygiene, feeding, theft, abuse and neglect. Little d

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