We were recently asked to grade the 2024 Iowa Legislature and Gov. Kim Reynolds on how well they’ve addressed issues surrounding quality-of-care in nursing homes.
Without hesitation, we gave an F. They’ve failed to take quality-of-care challenges seriously, and failed to act.
Failure began prior to the session when Republican leaders refused to respond to calls by citizens, advocates, elected leaders, and opinion page editors for legislators to do their job of oversight, to show concern and curiosity by investigating the ongoing challenges — and horror stories — in nursing homes.
The failure continued when, on the heels of numerous news articles identifying abuse and neglect in nursing homes, Gov. Reynolds didn’t even mention nursing home residents in her Condition of the State Address.
Failure was further evidenced in how the governor’s office responded to in-depth reporting by Clark Kauffman in the Iowa Capital Dispatch about the cozy relationship between nursing home lobbyists and elected leaders, along with the startling amounts of campaign dollars flowing to their election campaigns.
The governor’s spokesperson asked Iowans to believe the unbelievable — that there’s no relationship whatsoever between massive campaign contributions, the easy and ongoing access to key leaders by influential nursing home lobbyists, and the decisions made regarding public policies and appropriation of tax dollars for the industry.
We know the relationship is real. We’ve been in this arena for 18 years, seeing how the game of money and influence is played, and coming to clearly understand that the nursing home industry plays the tune that elected officials dance to.
Failure was also demonstrated when the Republican majority ignored a series of common-sense bills from Senate Democrats, led by Sens. Claire Celsi of West Des Moines and Janice Weiner of Iowa City, that addressed many of the problems in-depth.
Failure was complete when Republican lawmakers in the Iowa House chose to kill a bill that would have allowed nursing home residents to place cameras in their rooms to document the quality-of-care provided.
The death of that bill was a disgusting yet insightful demonstration of how things work at the Capitol. Lawmakers held hearings and displayed bipartisan support. The nursing home industry, who had pulled out all the stops in prior years to ensure the bill went nowhere, was applauded by elected representatives for working with them to move the bill forward. The industry was on record as not standing in the way. Then what happened? While no one in the legislature has been willing to say, our firmly held belief is this: the industry DID stand in the way, using behind-the-scenes access and influence to ensure the bill died.
Three months of paying lip service but doing nothing for vulnerable Iowans. Three months of protecting the business of nursing homes rather than residents served by nursing homes.
Nothing was done to address the underlying cause of the nursing home care crisis — the inability to attract and retain high quality workers; nothing to bring visibility to how the industry spends $800 million in appropriations of tax dollars each year, nothing to require accountability for those poor performing homes that continue to get millions of dollars annually to provide woefully inadequate care, nothing to set minimum staffing levels in nursing homes (as is done in child care settings), nothing to shift dollars away from nursing homes and toward what Iowans really want — to be served in their own homes and communities, etc.
Iowans deserve so much better than this. In the remaining weeks of the legislature, we challenge Republican legislative leaders and the governor to demonstrate that they care about, and will act to improve, the lives of nursing home residents.
At the very least, they should revive HF 2317, the nursing home camera bill.
If they don’t step up, they will be unworthy of support when Election Day rolls around.
We have a crisis in the quality-of-care in Iowa nursing homes. And so far in this legislative session, we’ve seen a crisis in the lack of caring at the statehouse.
John and Terri own The Hale Group, an Ankeny-based advocacy firm. They speak out on critical issues affecting the health, safety, and well-being of Iowans. terriandjohnhale@gmail.com
www.thegazette.com
Without hesitation, we gave an F. They’ve failed to take quality-of-care challenges seriously, and failed to act.
Failure began prior to the session when Republican leaders refused to respond to calls by citizens, advocates, elected leaders, and opinion page editors for legislators to do their job of oversight, to show concern and curiosity by investigating the ongoing challenges — and horror stories — in nursing homes.
The failure continued when, on the heels of numerous news articles identifying abuse and neglect in nursing homes, Gov. Reynolds didn’t even mention nursing home residents in her Condition of the State Address.
Failure was further evidenced in how the governor’s office responded to in-depth reporting by Clark Kauffman in the Iowa Capital Dispatch about the cozy relationship between nursing home lobbyists and elected leaders, along with the startling amounts of campaign dollars flowing to their election campaigns.
The governor’s spokesperson asked Iowans to believe the unbelievable — that there’s no relationship whatsoever between massive campaign contributions, the easy and ongoing access to key leaders by influential nursing home lobbyists, and the decisions made regarding public policies and appropriation of tax dollars for the industry.
We know the relationship is real. We’ve been in this arena for 18 years, seeing how the game of money and influence is played, and coming to clearly understand that the nursing home industry plays the tune that elected officials dance to.
Failure was also demonstrated when the Republican majority ignored a series of common-sense bills from Senate Democrats, led by Sens. Claire Celsi of West Des Moines and Janice Weiner of Iowa City, that addressed many of the problems in-depth.
Failure was complete when Republican lawmakers in the Iowa House chose to kill a bill that would have allowed nursing home residents to place cameras in their rooms to document the quality-of-care provided.
The death of that bill was a disgusting yet insightful demonstration of how things work at the Capitol. Lawmakers held hearings and displayed bipartisan support. The nursing home industry, who had pulled out all the stops in prior years to ensure the bill went nowhere, was applauded by elected representatives for working with them to move the bill forward. The industry was on record as not standing in the way. Then what happened? While no one in the legislature has been willing to say, our firmly held belief is this: the industry DID stand in the way, using behind-the-scenes access and influence to ensure the bill died.
Three months of paying lip service but doing nothing for vulnerable Iowans. Three months of protecting the business of nursing homes rather than residents served by nursing homes.
Nothing was done to address the underlying cause of the nursing home care crisis — the inability to attract and retain high quality workers; nothing to bring visibility to how the industry spends $800 million in appropriations of tax dollars each year, nothing to require accountability for those poor performing homes that continue to get millions of dollars annually to provide woefully inadequate care, nothing to set minimum staffing levels in nursing homes (as is done in child care settings), nothing to shift dollars away from nursing homes and toward what Iowans really want — to be served in their own homes and communities, etc.
Iowans deserve so much better than this. In the remaining weeks of the legislature, we challenge Republican legislative leaders and the governor to demonstrate that they care about, and will act to improve, the lives of nursing home residents.
At the very least, they should revive HF 2317, the nursing home camera bill.
If they don’t step up, they will be unworthy of support when Election Day rolls around.
We have a crisis in the quality-of-care in Iowa nursing homes. And so far in this legislative session, we’ve seen a crisis in the lack of caring at the statehouse.
John and Terri own The Hale Group, an Ankeny-based advocacy firm. They speak out on critical issues affecting the health, safety, and well-being of Iowans. terriandjohnhale@gmail.com
Opinion: Ignoring a crisis in Iowa
The nursing home industry calls the shots at the Statehouse
www.thegazette.com
