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By William J. Beerman, Sr.
(This article was originally posted December 21 but was accidentally deleted. It was reposted December 27)
Stunning news developments have put the government oversight system for senior care facilities in Minnesota in the spotlight.
Several Republican state senators decried nursing home oversight problems in Minnesota at a press conference December 12 after a five-part Minneapolis Star-Tribune newspaper series in November described breakdowns in the state Health Department’s handling of elder abuse complaints, and a fired Health Department official filed a whistleblower complaint November 13.
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Then, on December 19, the Minnesota Commissioner of Health, Dr. Edward Ehlinger, resigned.
The GOP senators held their press conference to “demand answers from Minnesota Department of Health officials in response to recent reports of abuse and neglect in Minnesota senior care facilities and the failure by the Department of Health and Office of Health Facilities Complaints to follow up on complaints.”
The senators’ press conference came after Nancy Omandi, the director of the Health Regulation Division, which oversees the Office of Health Facilities Complaints, said she was fired after blowing the whistle over a “toxic culture” in her agency that interfered with protection of residents of senior care facilities in the state.
The Star-Tribune reported that as the population of seniors seeking care has increased, the Health Department has been overwhelmed by a dramatic surge in maltreatment complaints. The paper said the department received 25,226 complaints last year about abuse and neglect in senior care facilities, a seven-fold increase since 2010, and that last year the agency investigated only 3 percent of the complaints onsite.
The Office of the Legislative Auditor has begun preliminary investigations into the Office of Health Facilities Complaints, but those findings will not be made available until March.
“We cannot wait until the legislative session in March . . . . Lives hang in the balance,” said Senator Karin Housley, chair of the Senate Aging and Long-Term Care Policy Committee. “I demand accountability, transparency, and immediate attention to addressing these issues.” She said she had been concerned about the problems and pursuing answers from officials since she became committee chair in January.
She was joined at the press conference by five senators including Senator Michelle Benson, chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Finance and Policy Committee.
On December 19, the day of Ehlinger’s resignation, Governor Mark Dayton, a Democrat who has been serving since 2011, gave the Department of Human Services — the largest state department – new authority to direct Health Department staff, make personnel decisions, and implement changes to Health Department work and investigation practices.
The Health Department spokesman did not respond to an invitation to comment.
The December 12 news conference can be viewed at the Republican Caucus website.
