Aged home gets city's first 'bad' rating for shirking financial obligations

An aged care home in Fengxian District was rated D, the lowest in the four-tier credibility assessment system, by the city's civil affairs authorities in the first such case since the system took effect in January.

The local monitoring system ranks the credibility of senior-care service providers into four levels – excellent, good, moderate and bad – based on 50 survey items, according to the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau.

The Shanghai Mingxin Art Senior Home in the suburban district has been listed on the city's public credibility information service platform for serious irregularities and failures in compensation and loan payments, according to the bureau.

The loan, compensation and relevant interest total more than 6 million yuan (US$886,800).

The home was found to be refusing to fulfill its legal obligations. As a result, it will face restrictions in financial support from authorities, increased frequency of inspections, and a loss in government bidding programs. It also no longer qualifies to be awarded by civil affairs authorities.

The rating system covers all senior homes in Shanghai, excluding those operating for less than one year and those undergoing renovations.

"We want to lift the service quality of senior homes in the city and raise their awareness of credibility by launching the monitoring and rating system," said Jiang Rui, director of the bureau.