Thomas Goldsmith, North Carolina Health News

Laws on guardianship in North Carolina have remained unchanged for decades, and advocates say they don’t reflect changes in the field that call for more information and expanded rights for people whose lives are put under the control of another person, agency or business.

As more private equity firms acquire skilled nursing facilities, often homes that already have a low rating by federal regulators, the North Carolina lawsuit represents just one attempt made by frail elderly residents to fight back against deep-pocketed investors.

At Thomasville’s Pine Ridge nursing home, reaction to a January ice storm showed that corporate owners Principle Long Term Care had allowed such poor planning that residents were left in immediate jeopardy, state officials said. The owner of dozens of North Carolina nursing homes, Principle had far too few employees operating the site and was employing an administrator who didn’t use the place’s disaster plan.