The Lynchburg News and Advance, the Bristol Herald Courier, and the Smyth County News and Messenger have published VHCA-VCAL President and CEO Keith Hare’s letter to the editor (LTE) denouncing the recent attack ads those papers ran against member nursing centers. 

As a reminder, if your center is the subject of an ad, or if you see an ad in one of your local papers, please scan and send a copy to Amy Hewett, Vice President of Strategy and Communications.  To date we have filed complaints to the Virginia State Bar for ads targeting 34 nursing homes; we have submited letters to the editor to each paper that has run an ad.  Additionally, we have begun using a tracking service to help us stay aware of any additional ads. 

Use our new Attack Ad Toolkit for additional resources to help your center respond to the ads. The toolkit includes sample letters to the editor that staff, families, or residents could tailor to submit their own letter. 

Letters to the Editor

• Ad was misleading (Lynchburg News and Advance, August 3, 2018)
• Ad targeting nursing homes misleading, adds to problems (Bristol Herald Courier, August 4, 2018)
• Ads targeting nursing homes don’t offer full picture of the care they provide (Smyth County News and Messenger, August 8, 2018)