site.btaVice President Calls for All-Out Crackdown on Illegal Nursing Homes

Vice President Iliana Iotova Tuesday called on the state authorities to crack down on the illegal nursing homes functioning in parts of Bulgaria. Iotova said that, most importantly, society should not allow the topic to be drowned out quickly. She urged Penal Code amendments to address the illegal practice.

Unlicensed nursing homes have been uncovered in Yagoda, Stara Zagora Region and in the seaside city of Varna over the last few days. Government ministers and news media have reported awful conditions and cruel and degrading treatment of residents in such establishments, which have become popularly known as “horror homes.”

Iotova noted: “It has long been said that the legislation in this field is out of date. Very strict government control is needed over all social care homes, not just for elderly people but also for children. I have no words to describe this kind of business. It is a business with human lives and health.”

According to her, the situation is becoming increasingly complicated. “I hope the government will keep its promise and will carry out an all-out crackdown using the whole leverage available to it, legally, to unravel these cases completely, uncover the whole network,” she said.

The Vice President said the public is waiting for answers. “Who is at the bottom of the whole organization? What chains have been used to connect these homes? Who has funded all these undertakings, whose signatures are on the documents? How come so many medications, practically illegal, are stored in these homes? And another question which remains unanswered is, who owns the homes where those people have been held [against their will]?”

Iotova said that each case that becomes known raises more questions. “The authorities must go all the way and take the necessary measures. Some of the measures will probably be legislative, others will involve the judicial system.”

The Vice President was in Popovo on the occasion of the town holiday and the 142nd anniversary of the urban status of the settlement.