Nursing home evictions are on the rise, and the spike has some observers wondering whether the evictions are always equitable — or ethical.

Nursing homes may evict patients for a number of legitimate reasons. Sometimes a resident poses a danger to others; sometimes the facility is unable to provide proper care for the patient.

However, many families are complaining that nursing homes are using evictions to get rid of labor-intensive residents, or simply to help the facility turn a profit. Additionally, the evicted parties are sometimes the patients who most badly need to be cared for, according to advocates.

Modern Healthcare discusses the data behind the rising evictions:

Complaints and lawsuits across the U.S. point to a spike in evictions even as observers note available records only give a glimpse of the problem.

An Associated Press analysis of federal data from the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program finds complaints about discharges and evictions are up about 57 percent since 2000. It was the top-reported grievance in 2014, with 11,331 such issues logged by ombudsmen, who work to resolve problems faced by residents of nursing homes, assisted living facilities and other adult-care settings.

As for the evicted parties:

Those targeted for eviction are frequently poor and suffering from dementia, according to residents’ allies. They often put up little fight, their families unsure what to do. Removing them makes room for less labor-intensive and more profitable patients, critics of the tactic say, noting it can be shattering.

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“When they get tired of caring for the resident, they kick the resident out,” said Richard Mollot of the Long Term Care Community Coalition, a New York advocacy group.

That is often because the resident came to be regarded as undesirable — requiring a greater level of care, exhibiting dementia-induced signs of aggression, or having a family that complained repeatedly about treatment, advocates say. Federal law spells out rules on acceptable transfers, but the advocates say offending facilities routinely stretch permitted justifications for discharge. Even when families fight a move and win an appeal, some homes have disregarded rulings.

Of course, there are two sides to this story. A nursing home industry tells Modern Healthcare more about why they evict certain residents:

The American Health Care Association, which represents nursing homes, defends the discharge process as lawful and necessary to remove residents who can’t be kept safe or who endanger the safety of others, and says processes are in place to ensure evictions aren’t done improperly.

Dr. David Gifford, a senior vice president with the group, said a national policy discussion is necessary because there is a growing number of individuals with complex, difficult-to-manage cases who outpace the current model of what a nursing home offers.

“There are times these individuals can’t be managed or they require so much staff attention to manage them that the other residents are endangered,” he said.

Some resident advocates suspect that evictions are also fueled by economics. When a family turns to Medicaid to pay for a spot in a nursing home, evictions seem to increase, according to data.