1.    Please join us at our next statewide meeting on Saturday, November 15, 2008 from 10:30-2:30 at a NEW TEMPORARY LOCATION: The offices of Legal Services of South Central Michigan, 3490 Belle Chase Way, Lansing. Belle Chase Way is between Dunkel and Pine Tree Rd. on the south side of Jolly Road, near the Jolly Road exit (Exit 11) off U.S. 127. (Look for the Lansing Urgent Veterinary Care and Century 21 signs at the entrance to Belle Chase Way. The office is in the long, white Colonial building on the left.   We will be discussing our assisted living disclosure form, our oral/dental care initiative for nursing home residents, changes we anticipate with the new Administration in Washington and new state legislature, and much, much more!  We love to welcome new members and see old friends!  If you plan to attend the meeting, please RSVP to Alison Hirschel at hirschel@umich.edu or 517-324-5754 by November 11, 2008.  We need you to be part of our important plans and discussions!  Join us!

2.    Campaign presents 2008 Nadene Mitcham Courage and Heart Awards – The Campaign presented its annual Courage and Heart awards to State Ombudsman Sarah Slocum and State Closure Team Coordinator Salli Pung. The awards were presented at an elder law conference in September at the Homestead Resort in Glen Arbor.  Sarah’s award was in recognition of her more than 20 years of advocacy for long term care consumers, her extraordinary leadership of the state Long Term Care Ombudsman program, her national impact through her work with NCCNHR–the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long Term Care and the National Association of State Long Term Care Ombudsman Programs, and her many successes in improving the lives of long term care consumers.  Salli coordinates the team of professionals who assist residents during often very difficult nursing home closures.  She was honored for going far beyond the responsibilities of her job to ensure that every frightened resident and anguished family member during a closure feels that their needs are addressed by a person who is both extremely capable and deeply compassionate.  This year, the Campaign chose to rename the Courage and Heart award to include the name of our longtime former state chairperson, Nadene Mitcham.  As Campaign Board member, Toni Wilson, remarked: “We decided it wouldn’t be enough to give Nadene one award. We wanted to name the award after her to remind us each and every year of her extraordinary contributions to the Campaign.” Nadene and her two daughters were present at the award ceremony and Nadene spoke movingly of her involvement in the Campaign and her commitment to advocacy for long term care consumers. Previous winners of the Courage and Heart Award are State Medicaid Director Paul Reinhart, State Representative Rick Shaffer, Department of Community Health Deputy Director Jan Christensen, elder law attorney Doug Chalgian, disability rights advocate RoAnne Chaney, and assistant state ombudsman Brad Geller.

 

 

 

 

Courage and Heart Award winner Sarah Slocum (on right) with former Statewide Chair Nadene Mitcham

3.    Campaign racks up more victories–- During the summer, the Campaign learned that the state had promulgated a new policy which would have denied most nursing home residents Medicaid payments for the custom made or modified wheelchairs they required.  The Campaign, along with providers and other advocates, strongly opposed the new policy and the Campaign filed extensive comments illustrating why the policy would be harmful to residents.  Medicaid Director Paul Reinhart told the Campaign that our comments were thoughtful and persuasive and the state has abandoned the proposed policy.  

        On another topic, we were recently informed by the state that the new Medicaid policy we had championed to allow short stay Medicaid nursing home residents to use their income to maintain their homes instead of turning it over to their nursing homes could not be implemented because of a computer glitch in the Department of Human Services’ (DHS) new computer system.  We were unwilling to let this victory be derailed by a technological problem.  Instead, we contacted officials at DHS to ask if caseworkers could calculate by hand the reduced amount residents would owe to the nursing home if they needed to make mortgage, rent, insurance, tax, or other payments related to preserving their homes.  The officials agreed and the new policy allowing residents to preserve their homes so that they can return to them will go into effect on January 1, 2009.  We are now working with the state to ensure caseworkers, consumers, and providers are educated about this new benefit.

        The Campaign continues to be in close touch with state officials to press for new policies and bring attention to problems in current policies and programs.  We appreciate the concern,  courtesy, and collaboration of state officials in helping to address these many issues.  Issues currently under discussion include fire safety in nursing homes, improving nursing home quality, a proposal to offer managed long term care, increases in personal care supplements for low income residents of adult foster care facilities and homes for the aged, and dual certification for Medicare and Medicaid of all nursing home beds certified for either Medicare or Medicaid.  We hope to share more good news on some of these topics in the near future.

4.  Campaign needs you!!  Help keep us connected with our more than 800 members across the state!  The Campaign is seeking members to take over the task of mailing out our bimonthly newsletters.  These mailings keep everyone informed about advocacy opportunities, challenges, and successes and are especially important for those who cannot attend meetings.  Do you have computer skills to create labels and keep our mailing list updated?  Can you fold newsletters and stuff envelopes six times a year? Can you stock up on supplies and drop the letters off at a post office?  If you can organize a few friends or utilize your office resources, you could manage this hugely important task for the Campaign! To volunteer, contact Alison at hirschel@umich.edu. Please help!

5.  Campaign members attend another fantastic NCCNHR Annual Meeting and showcase Campaign accomplishments for advocates from around the country–Many campaign members were fortunate to attend the 33^rd Annual Meeting of NCCNHR–The National Consumer Voice for Quality Long Term Care in Indianapolis from Oct. 15-17.  The conference theme was Making It Happen: Advocacy into Action, Action into Care and was attended by approximately 350 advocates and experts from around the country.  The multitude of informative sessions concerned diverse issues such as creating quality workforces in long term care facilities, establishing effective family councils, empowering and respecting residents with dementia, improving assisted living facilities, and investigating and resolving cases of elder abuse. The outlines and handouts for most of the sessions are available on line at the www.nccnhr.org website (click on “Download the session materials” on the right side of the home page).

        But Campaign members and the Campaign’s successes also received recognition at the national event. Campaign board member Toni Wilson was honored with the prestigious Janet Tulloch award for her work as a citizen advocate to improve the lives of individuals in long term care facilities.  Campaign statewide chairperson Bill Mania was cited as a “Face of Courage” in the opening plenary presentation. Campaign Board member John Weir was elected Treasurer of the NCCNHR Board and Campaign Secretary Carole Newburry will now  serve on NCCNHR’s nominating committee.  Former Campaign member Liz Wiley, now in medical school in Washington, D.C., was elected to the NCCNHR Board.  And the Campaign was pleased to have several forums to talk about its efforts and accomplishments.  Toni Wilson created a wonderful display summarizing our successes in recent years.  Campaign counsel and outgoing

        NCCNHR President Alison Hirschel presented a workshop on how the Campaign has become effective by focusing on priorities, developing strong allies, jumping on advocacy opportunities, empowering consumers to tell their stories and engage in advocacy, and earning a reputation for having both knowledge and integrity. 

      Because the Campaign understands the critical role NCCNHR plays as the only national organization whose sole role is to promote the interests of long term care consumers, the Campaign was pleased to be a sponsor of the conference and to support NCCNHR in other ways.  Campaign member Barb VanWestrienen donated another lovely handmade quilt that was raffled off to great excitement and members also donated items to NCCNHR’s fund-raising auction.

 

 

 Toni Wilson, Campaign board member and NCCNHR award winner

 

5.     Campaign thanks our recent donors and seeks funding to sustain us– The Campaign is very grateful to recent donors Albert and Margaret Krug and the law firm of Hafeli, Staran, Hallahan, Christ & Dudek. P.C.  As we head into the holiday season, we ask you to consider a donation to the Campaign to support our continuing advocacy.  We stretch every penny, have no paid staff, and have extraordinarily low overhead.  In an organization like ours, even a small donation makes a big difference in keeping our work alive.   Contributions are tax-deductible  and can be sent to: the Michigan Campaign for Quality Care, c/o Paul VanWestrienen, Treasurer, 359 Park Ave., Parchment, MI 49004.

 

Happy Holidays to All!