With nursing homes disappearing and life expectancies rising, gubernatorial candidate Dan Malloy said in a New Haven visit that he sees a “collision course” that could affect cities more than suburbs.
Malloy (at left in photo) made the observation during a Friday afternoon visit to the Mary Wade Home on Clinton Avenue in Fair Haven with his running mate, state Comptroller Nancy Wyman (center).
As a nursing home that is undergoing expansion, Mary Wade is a rarity. Malloy said he chose it because he wanted to visit a home with a strong reputation. As he finished up a tour of the facility, he commented on the state of nursing homes in Connecticut.
Nursing homes are faltering and disappearing, especially in urban areas, where they are more expensive to operate, Malloy said. That’s going to be a problem, since life expectancies continue to increase, he said. The state must ensure that health care reimbursement rates are set high enough to support nursing homes, Malloy argued.
With New Haven’s West Rock Health Care Facility going under after a bankruptcy, the plight of nursing homes has drawn the attention of the Malloy campaign before, as well as that of his opponent Ned Lamont. See here for background.
The state reimbursement system is the subject of an open lawsuit brought against Gov. M. Jodi Rell by a group of nursing homes.
Just after 1 p.m. on Friday, Malloy and Wyman were met at the entrance to Mary Wade by CEO David Hunter (all three are pictured, from left). Hunter led a tour of the building, visiting the three parts of the home: residential living, skilled nursing care, and elderly day programs.
Malloy commented on the name plates on the doors in the residential wing, where the carpeted hallway is lined with flowered wallpaper. “It’s a nice touch,” he said.
In a skilled nursing unit, Malloy and Wyman worked a room of seniors who need more intensive care.
“I’m Nancy Wyman. I’m running for lieutenant governor with Dan Malloy,” said Wyman.
“Running for what?” asked one woman. Wyman raised her voice and tried again.
Later, in the day program section, Malloy and Wyman visited a room-full of seniors who were enjoying a piano concert. The pianist struck up “Hail To The Chief” as Malloy entered.
“This is a wonderful facility,” Malloy told the seniors. He complimented one woman on her word search completion.
In the garden behind the home, Malloy and Wyman paused to speak with 87-year-old Fair Haven native Mary Coiro, who was raking leaves in the shade.
“Nursing home [state reimbursement] rates haven’t changed since 2007,” said Malloy (pictured speaking with Mary Wade board member Al Goldberg), moments later. Meanwhile, the number of nursing homes in the state has been dropping, particularly in urban areas, he said.
When children can’t place their elderly parents in homes nearby or care for them at home, it has “a physiological and emotional impact,” he said. That’s why urban nursing homes like Mary Wade, with day and residential programs are so important.
But it’s more expensive to operate a nursing home in an urban environment, he said. And when reimbursement rates stagnate, it becomes even harder.
“We need reimbursement rates for quality care that allow homes to stay in business,” Malloy said.
The state also needs to help seniors live at home with their families for longer, Malloy said. Elderly day care programs like the ones at Mary Wade help families to keep their parents at home.
Malloy addressed a concern that Hunter brought up during the tour. State funding comes to the home from several sources, each with different regulations and processes, Hunter said. That makes for a cumbersome and convoluted situation, he said.
Malloy said he plans to cut each of the 200 state agencies by a third, without cutting back on services. It will encourage cooperation and reduce duplicate efforts. Nursing homes need a reduction of paperwork and regulation, he said. “That’s what I’m prepared to do.”
“The state needs to have something available for cutting through the bureaucracy,” Hunter said, as the group sat for a moment in an air conditioned conference room.
“I do. It’s called Nancy Wyman,” Malloy said with a laugh.
After Malloy and Wyman departed, Hunter noted that New Haven has lost three nursing homes in the 28 years that he’s run Mary Wade.
What can the state do to help urban nursing homes?
“It could pay us our costs,” he said. “It could also work with us more creatively” to simplify bureaucracy. Hunter said Mary Wade gets state money from three sources: Medicaid, old age assistance, and a home care program fund. Each has its own regulations and standards, which often change, he said. If the state could simplify the system, it would save time and money, he said.
Contacted later, Malloy’s opponent for the Democratic nomination, Ned Lamont, released this statement:
“As more people retire and medical costs go up, Connecticut needs a new type of leadership to ensure that people from every community and walk of life can retire with dignity. Instead of throwing more money at the problem, we need to fundamentally change our system by shifting from costly nursing homes to more affordable, more popular community-based care.
“As governor I will work to give families the choice of community-based alternatives to nursing homes that allow their moms and dads to stay at home, where they want to be anyway. If Connecticut increased the percentage of people receiving home and community-based care from the current 53 percent to 75 percent, we could continue to deliver quality care and save the state as much as $900 million a year by 2025.”