By Sara Quam
Rock County nursing home facilities have the option to reduce the number of beds in place of more flexible care, thanks to the state Legislature.
The state's long-term care system is currently heavily weighted toward nursing home care. In order to shift the balance toward more community-based long-term care, the 2001 legislation developed incentives for nursing homes to reduce up to 5,140 facility beds in the next two years.
When a home takes away a number of beds, the state will reinvest money into the facility in other areas, such as programs or facility improvements. The decision to close beds is entirely up to individual nursing homes.
Dana Dahlquist, administrator at Tuff Memorial Home, Hills, said the 52-bed facility hasn't had difficulty keeping filled, but he said cutting back may be an option.
"We're debating it. We have six double rooms that we might turn into private, but that would be one or two at a time," Dahlquist said.
He said services provided by assisted living facilities or home health care workers could extend the time some people spend outside the nursing homes.
"People can make educated decisions about where they're going to be," he said.
Rock County Family Services Director Randy Ehlers said a combination of things prompted the legislation. The Baby Boomer generation wants more choices and freedom with long-term care, and the state, especially the southwest portion, has an abundance of nursing home beds.
Linda Studer, administrator of the Mary Jane Brown Good Samaritan Home, said the Luverne facility isn't prepared to start looking at reducing beds just yet.
"I think the state is seeing that people want choices and there needs to be funding to provide those choices," Studer said.
She said if the community has a need for assisted living, some nursing home beds may be reduced. "If there's going to be beds closing," Studer said, "you have to pick up the slack somewhere else, like in assisted living."
The state is prepared to offer incentives to shift some of the burden of care off nursing homes. The 2001 legislation:
Invests in home- and community-based programs (Elderly Waiver, Alternative Care and Group Residential Housing) to meet increased demand for services.
Provides incentives for the planned, voluntary closure of up to 5,140 nursing facility beds over the next two years with some of the savings reinvested back into the nursing facility industry.
Revises resident relocation statutes and provides funding for county costs of relocations.
Improves access to Alternative Care and Elderly Waiver services through rate equalization between the programs and across counties.
Simplifies administration through a common service menu across Alternative Care and waivers.
Invests in infrastructure - renovation and replacement of outdated nursing homes.
While area nursing homes may be full most of the time, Twin Cities nursing home facilities are finding it difficult to operate because more services, such as home health care and assisted living, are available there. Meanwhile, more nursing homes were constructed there in the 1960s and '70s.
Another trend is shortened nursing home stays. A growing number of nursing home residents are there for short post-hospital stays and transition back to their home or enter an assisted living facility after regaining some strength. Others put off entering nursing homes until the last stages of life when other options have been exhausted.
Since the legislation was just passed, it will take some time before local nursing homes decide what they'll do and how to go about making changes, if any.