Statement from Emmett Reed, FHCA Executive Director [Read more…] about FHCA Statement on HB 21 – Certificate of Need
Florida Health Care Association
Florida Health Care Association to Address Legislative Priorities at Media Roundtable
MEDIA ADVISORY
The Florida Health Care Association (FHCA) will hold a media roundtable on Monday, March 4, at 10:00 am. [Read more…] about Florida Health Care Association to Address Legislative Priorities at Media Roundtable
Quality Care in Florida Long Term Care Centers Very Good, Getting Better
Rankings in staff training, drug administration, and depression
management are above national averages thanks to legislative funding
Boosted by support from the Legislature, Florida is showing significant improvement in the overall quality of care at long term care centers, now ranking among the top ten states in the nation. [Read more…] about Quality Care in Florida Long Term Care Centers Very Good, Getting Better
FHCA’s Emmet Reed on Irma Anniversary
With the anniversary of Hurricane Irma upon us, FHCA Executive Director Emmett Reed has released the following statement regarding residents’ safety, member center compliance, and continued preparations in the wake of Irma’s destruction. [Read more…] about FHCA’s Emmet Reed on Irma Anniversary
Nursing home and assisted living facility associations support Governor Scott’s proposal that all facilities have emergency generators
Governor Rick Scott announced today that the Florida Health Care Association, Florida Senior Living Association, LeadingAge Florida and the Florida Assisted Living Association have agreed to support the Governor’s rule to have emergency generators to power their air conditioning units during emergencies. These associations, which represent thousands of nursing homes and assisted living facilities (ALFs) in Florida, have worked with the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) and the Department of Elder Affairs (DOEA) through the rule-making process and have agreed to drop their challenges against the agencies and work with their members to have emergency generators. Hundreds of nursing homes and ALFs in Florida have already agreed to follow the Governor’s rule and are working to install the necessary equipment. While the rule challenges against the currently proposed nursing home and assisted living facility generator rules have been dropped by all parties, these rules are still awaiting ratification by the Florida Legislature. The legislature must ratify these rules during the current legislative session.
Governor Scott said, “Following the tragic loss of life at the Hollywood Hills Rehabilitation Center last year, I immediately ordered our state agencies to require each nursing home and ALF in Florida to have emergency generators to keep their residents safe during a disaster. My goal throughout this process was to ensure that every facility in Florida can provide a safe environment for its residents. These rules accomplish this important goal by having generators and fuel supply resources at every nursing home and ALF in Florida. This is a big win for our state and makes Florida one of the first states in the nation to require emergency generators at nursing homes and ALFs. The bottom line is that we fought for residents and they will be safer because of these rules. I look forward to the legislature ratifying these life-saving rules.”
AHCA Secretary Justin Senior said, “We have put together a rule that we believe can help save lives. Nursing homes and assisted living facilities are homes for some of Florida’s most vulnerable populations, and these rules are vital to ensuring patient safety. We are glad that the hard work of Governor Scott and stakeholders will establish standards that will keep Florida’s vulnerable populations safe.”
DOEA Secretary Bragg said, “When Florida families make the decision to place their loved ones in long-term care facilities, they expect that they will be safe and well cared for at all times. Since September, our Department has been working to ensure the safety and welfare of Floridians in assisted living facilities during periods of prolonged power outage. We are glad that all parties were able to come together and create procedures that will ensure protection for these populations.”
Florida Health Care Association Executive Director Emmett Reed said, “The health and well-being of our state’s frail elders is our members’ number one priority. Our association has worked with Governor Scott, AHCA and DOEA since September on how our members can implement these important life-saving rules. We are glad that all stakeholders were able to come to the table, work together and agree to lasting policy that will keep residents and patients safe in Florida.”
Gail Matillo, President of the Florida Senior Living Association said, “Throughout this process, we have remained supportive of the Governor’s original intent – to ensure vulnerable Floridians are kept safe during emergency situations. We believe these rules will benefit both Florida seniors and the communities invested in providing them with quality living environments.”
Shad Haston, Chief Executive Officer of Florida Assisted Living Association said, “Our assisted living facilities are implanted in communities all over the state and ensuring resident safety has been a key issue since the storm this fall. Governor Scott was able to bring key stakeholders together, and work through the rules ensuring that facilities large and small will be able to implement them.”
Steve Bahmer, President and CEO of LeadingAge Florida said, “Ensuring the safety of Florida’s seniors has always been the primary goal of LeadingAge Florida and our members, and we appreciated the Governor’s leadership on this as Hurricane Irma moved through our state. The state has stayed in close contact with our association during the course of this process, and we support the implementation of these rules to ensure that Florida’s seniors are safe.”
With this agreement AHCA and DOEA have filed notice of change to the permanent nursing home and assisted living facility generator rules. The notice of change can be found here for nursing homes and here for assisted living facilities.
Statement from Emmett Reed, FHCA Executive Director, on CRC Proposal 88 hearing
Statement from Emmett Reed, FHCA Executive Director, on CRC Proposal 88 hearing
“In today’s hearing, a committee of the Constitution Revision Commission approved the misguided Proposal 88. The proposal claims to strengthen the rights of long term care residents throughout Florida, but in reality it is nothing more than an avaricious ploy by trial lawyers to profit from increased lawsuits against nursing centers.
“Ultimately, Proposal 88 fails to focus on what is important for Florida’s nursing center residents and caregivers. Its provisions undermine the hard work of thousands of health care professionals who provide outstanding care for some of Florida’s most vulnerable citizens. Existing state and federal laws guarantee the rights of nursing center residents and these laws have been working well to support the advances in quality that are being made in Florida nursing centers today. We are always working with state leaders to improve the quality of care for our residents and understand what resources are needed for our caregivers to truly make a difference. Our members strive every day to provide those resources to improve the lives of those under our care.
“In approving this ill-advised proposal, committee members ignored a significant amount of data presented today about the quality of Florida care centers – including the fact that Florida is among the best in the nation in nursing and Certified Nursing Assistants staffing ratios; that reforms in 2001 led to more systemic approaches to delivering care, including risk management and quality assurance programs, grievance policies and procedures, and resident-centered care; and that new federal rules announced in November make major updates in residents’ rights, care planning, quality assurance, and assessments. I am tremendously disappointed to see Proposal 88 advance. Still, I hope the full Constitution Revision Commission will see that these unreasonable provisions do not belong in the Florida Constitution. In the long run, this will do more harm than good for the caregivers and residents in Florida’s nursing centers.”
Statement from Emmett Reed, FHCA Executive Director, on presentations about CRC Proposal 88
“A committee of the Constitution Revision Commission will meet today to discuss a truly bad proposal, one that is bad on its face and most certainly does not belong in the Florida Constitution. I hope the information members receive during this discussion makes it clear just how much Proposal 88 deserves to be rejected.
The measure claims to help enhance protections for nursing home residents, but it is really little more than a money grab by trial lawyers who are hoping to increase the number of lawsuits against nursing homes. Thousands of dedicated, hardworking professional caregivers are making a difference in the lives of nursing home residents, improving their health outcomes and providing resident-focused care in a way that promotes their dignity. Existing state and federal laws guarantee the rights of nursing home residents, and the Florida Health Care Association is committed to working with state leaders to implement any reasonable strategies that enhance their care and well-being.
This proposal is wrong for the Florida Constitution, and it is wrong for the people of Florida. Increasing lawsuits against nursing homes does nothing to improve quality, having the resources to invest in caregivers is what makes the difference. Commissioners should see it for what it is and reject it.”
Florida Health Care Association to Address Legislative Priorities at Media Roundtable
The Florida Health Care Association (FHCA) will hold a media roundtable on Monday, January 8, at 10:30 am. Officials from FHCA, Florida’s largest advocacy organization for nursing centers and the elders they serve, will discuss the association’s priorities for the upcoming legislative session. These priorities include opposition to misguided trial lawyer legislation and Constitution Revision Commission amendments, enhancing procedures for long-term care residents during emergencies, increasing Medicaid funding for nursing centers, and protecting the Certificate of Need process.
What: Media roundtable on legislative priorities
When: Monday, January 8
10:30 am
Where: Sachs Media Group, 114 South Duval St., Tallahassee
Who: FHCA Executive Director Emmett Reed
FHCA Chief Lobbyist Bob Asztalos
FHCA Director of Reimbursement Tom Parker
NuVision Management President Andrew Weisman
FHCA: Constitution Revision Commission Should Act Carefully on Changes Affecting Care Options for Frail Elders
Members of the Florida Health Care Association (FHCA) today provided members of the Constitution Revision Commission (CRC) with invaluable information and insights to help preserve a crucial policy affecting the care of Florida’s most frail residents. In presentations to a CRC panel, FHCA speakers detailed why nursing centers should be removed from any repeal of the Certificate of Need process.
FHCA, Florida’s largest advocacy organization representing 82% of Florida nursing centers and the elderly they serve, told the CRC General Provisions Committee that both the quality of care for the state’s seniors and the health of the nursing centers that care for them could be significantly impacted by a proposal under consideration. The association is advocating for an exemption for nursing homes from a proposed Constitutional Amendment (Proposal 54) that would eliminate the Certificate of Need (CON) process for all health care facilities.
“Repealing nursing home Certificate of Need will most certainly result in unmanaged growth, low occupancy rates, inefficiencies in how buildings operate, and a reduction in the value of our state’s nursing centers. All of this will greatly impact how quality care is provided to our state’s seniors,” Brian Perry of HCR ManorCare, which operates 29 nursing centers in Florida, told members of the committee.
“CON repeal has affected elder care in other states,” Perry noted. “For example, Texas operates twice as many nursing centers as Florida but is plagued by facilities that have beds that remain empty and deliver a poor quality of care. Indiana was forced to impose a moratorium on building nursing centers due to unmanaged growth 16 years after it repealed its CON process.”
Jeff Marshall of Omega Healthcare Investors, a real estate investment trust with the nation’s largest portfolio of nursing home investments, told committee members that limiting the supply of nursing home beds to meet demand through the CON process represents a very important element of stabilizing nursing home value, encouraging both initial investment and subsequent reinvestment to enhance quality of care and environment for residents.
“Elimination of the nursing home CON process would ultimately lead to the unintended consequence of reduced access to nursing home care for Floridians covered by Medicaid,” said Marshall. “As newly built nursing homes focus on admitting profitable Medicare, insurance, and private-pay patients to cover construction costs, Medicaid residents will increasingly be restricted to older nursing homes. Those facilities that serve the highest percentage of Medicaid residents will suffer the most upon elimination of the CON process – not a desirable outcome.”
FHCA speakers also noted that by promoting an environment in which new nursing centers would have to lure elders to fill costly beds, repeal of CON for nursing centers would run contrary to Florida’s long-standing commitment to enabling elders to remain in their homes or in community-based care for as long as possible.
“Florida has attained a system that strikes the right balance. Those who can be cared for in a home and community-based setting are receiving it there – and those who come to my nursing center and others around the state do so because that is the only place they can safely receive the more specialized care they need,” said Joe Mitchell, CEO of mid-size nursing center operator Summit Care.
More information on how the Certificate of Need issue may affect the care of Floridians in skilled nursing centers can be found at cqrcengage.com/ahcafl/CONProcess.
Statement from Florida Health Care Association Executive Director Emmett Reed on New Permanent Generator Rules
“Florida Health Care Association thanks the Governor, the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) and the Department of Elder Affairs (DOEA) for considering several of our recommendations for strengthening emergency procedures in nursing homes and assisted living facilities (ALFs). The new rules proposed by AHCA/DOEA appear to contain a number of provisions put forth by FHCA in public testimony before the agencies and the Legislature during recent rule workshops and committee meetings.
FHCA has consistently sought a process that is resident-focused in order to meet the Governor’s goal of keeping residents cool and safe during disasters. Sharing ideas through press releases and public testimony is no substitute for gathering experts around a table and working together to develop a realistic plan that can be met by providers in a reasonable time frame and safe manner.
Together with our more than 550 members, FHCA continues to stand ready to work with the administration and the Legislature on disaster procedures for nursing homes and ALFs. However, it’s important that the discussion be expanded beyond just generators — priority power, stronger connections between emergency managers and long term care providers, and a more formalized process with special needs shelters are also important considerations. This is the best way, and the right way, to keep our state’s frailest elders safe during emergency situations.”
