Legislation needs to help, protect seniors in assisted living

I read the letter from my state Rep.Tama Theis, "Gov. Dayton’s veto hurts vulnerable adults, seniors and their families," that ran May 31, with interest. I had called her concerning this very bill on abuse in assisted living — before this bill was put in the omnibus bill and watered down in that process.

I know members of the Elder Abuse Consumer Coalition, the president in particular, Kristine Sundberg, who told me the House bill was weak to begin with and the Senate version was actually the one watered down to fit the completely inadequate House version. The Coalition had asked the governor to veto the end-of-session mess the Republicans had presented him, including this legislation, which by end of the session was then actually stripping safety measures that were in place, and still are since the veto.

You’ll ask why I would care. I am an elder in my 80s. I am an RN/Nurse Practitioner having spent my life and career caring for elderly, mentally ill veterans. I belong to advocacy groups Greater Minnesota Health Care Coalition and Central Minnesota Senior Federation, both which keep an eye on how our healthcare money is spent by the state and state appointed vendors. I care how people are treated.

You may also wonder about the elder coalition mentioned. Bluntly, most if not all of the members have lost someone at an assisted living facility because the facility did not do a daily welfare check, which they promise they will do.

I say "promise" because there is no law or regulation to make them do a check. In one case it was seven days after the person had died before it was discovered, even though a neighbor warned the facility something was wrong. This is not isolated either. Many “incidents” as they are called are reported. Read the extended expose’ in the Star Tribune.

Back to Theis’ opinion letter. When called, I asked why she hadn’t signed onto the House bill. She hadn’t read it; at least that was the response. As she stated, she is a vice chair of this particular committee. But she hadn’t read it and hadn’t co-sponsored it, yet.

She mentioned how the House bill was giving the residents and their families “additional tools to hold perpetrators of abuse accountable . . .”

One tool used before the bill was the use of hidden cameras. Many abuses were discovered and stopped because the family put a camera in the apartment and proved abuse.

The House bill, however, required the family to tell the facility employees when and where the camera was placed. I suppose this would help the facilities avoid having perpetrators abuse because perpetrators now knew when they were being watched. The head of the AARP in Minnesota, Will Phillips, said this would undermine any ability of seniors and their families to document any abuse.

Because assisted living facilities are actually apartment buildings that promise to do a daily welfare check on occupants, residents may be evicted without notice to the family (if any), without concern where they would go and who would take them and be responsible. The bill Theis praises did not address this.

In assisted living apartments, you are treated as if you were like any other renter, without even low-income housing safeguards. If the elder is not checked on and dies, the family’s only recourse is a civil lawsuit. There are no criminal penalties. No “burdensome regulations” to “lead to significantly higher costs,” as her letter said. Her legislation would have done nothing to help and protect seniors in assisted living.

Charlotte Fisher is an RN/Nurse Practitioner who worked 30 years until retirement at the St Cloud VA. After retirement, she ran for the Sauk Rapids area MN House seat in the 1980s, worked as a nurse consultant for Opportunity Matters, raised her sons and involved herself in many organizations and causes to make healthcare fair and accessible for everyone. She is still advocating for health care as a right.

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Legislation needs to help, protect seniors in assisted living