Meeting Public Comments

John Hale [The Hale Group]

My wife Terri and I are The Hale Group, advocates for older Iowans, Iowans with disabilities, and the caregivers who support them.We applaud the intent of HF 191 as we believe that Iowa did a huge disservice to residents of nursing facilities when it chose to acquiesce to the federal government's guidance on shutting down visitation during the pandemic.The choice to remain silent and NOT to state the obvious that the mental and physical health of nursing home residents would suffer from isolation was a failure of leadership generally, and a failure of the Office of the LongTerm Care Ombudsman specifically.That Office is a quasiindependent entity of state government that is not just supposed to, but is required to, be a visible and forceful advocate for nursing home residents residents who all too often have no family or friends to advocate for them.It has failed to do so, not just during this pandemic, but also prior to it. We have identified failings in this office over the past 18 months, and have sought to improve its operations and management by reaching out to the Governor's Office, the Department on Aging, the State Ombudsman's Office, and various legislators and legislative leaders. Our summary of concerns was described in our December 2019 Guest Opinion column in the Des Moines Register linked here: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/iowaview/2019/12/26/iowalongtermcareombudsmansofficeneedsreinvigorated/2748811001/ Because of these concerns, and the fact that they have continued to grow since December of 2019, we are hesitant to endorse any bill that would give them more responsibility. The sad reality is that we have no confidence in the ability of this office's leadership to effectively and that is the key word, EFFECTIVELY carry out these responsibilities. We again thank the bill authors and supporters for their concerns about nursing home residents and the need for greater advocacy on their behalf, and would like to continue the conversation to explore how that enhanced advocacy can be best accomplished.

Bill Kallestad [Iowa Developmental Disablities Council]

I am wondering that in the proposed HF bill 191, if consideration might be given to include ICF/ID (Intermediate Care Facilities for people with Intellectual Disabilities). I know that the same rationale for such an important bill applies to both those living in nursing facilities as people with disabilities living in ICR/ID living and other congregate care. I do recognize they are not under the same jurisdiction. I just wanted to reach out that social isolation and clear guidelines are also needed in this area.