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Dear Friend,
Extending lobbying efforts; responding to residents, community, and staff
In this month’s update regarding the issues facing the Jewish Home, our challenges and responses to today’s fiscal and operating realities, and the various steps approved by the Jewish Home’s board of trustees to best address these matters, I would like to focus on our intensified lobbying efforts, reiterate (for the sake of clarification) the reason we have temporarily suspended long-term care admissions to the Home, and highlight our enduring recognition that the Home’s most important resources are the people who work here, our staff.
Lobbying efforts reach higher levels
As I mentioned in my last communication, the fate of the state of California’s budget cuts is now in the hands of the federal government. According to the trailer bill language, the implementation – or not – of the Medi-Cal cuts will be determined on a federal level. We have therefore turned our attention to meeting with officials connected with CMS, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (the local office for the federal government), to lobby against the implementation of these cuts.
I am most grateful to Michael Adler, chair of the Jewish Home’s board of trustees, and Kevin Potter, the Home’s chief financial officer, for meeting with Dr. Gloria Nagle, CMS’s associate regional administrator, and her staff to discuss the impact that a significantly reduced Medi-Cal reimbursement from the state of California will have on distinct part nursing facilities (DPNFs) such as the Jewish Home, and on the industry as a whole.
It is essential to note that Governor Brown’s 2011/2012 budget proposal is a broad stroke attempt at cost savings that does not address or analyze the effect or viability of such economic measures. Nor does it distinguish high-quality cost-effective providers such as the Jewish Home from those who are not. We believe that the proposed 23 percent cut to Medi-Cal reimbursement will impact the access that people have to DPNFs, and the care and services offered by these facilities. In essence, all such organizations will be forced to examine just how many Medi-Cal beds they can realistically afford to offer. It is quite conceivable that some rural acute hospitals that rely on the DPNF rate will close altogether.
The Jewish Home is committed to providing quality, compassionate care to the frail elderly of our community. But we also wish to partner with the state of California to help repair its broken system. However, we cannot be part of the solution if the gap between cost and reimbursement – while we endeavor to transition to a new model that is consistent with future health care reform initiatives – is too great for us to bridge.
As a follow-up to the time and consideration given to us by Dr. Nagle, we are now working in conjunction with California Hospital Association (of which we are a member) and other DPNFs across the state, to educate, inform, and influence CMS’s thinking, and to demonstrate, through independent third-part validation, that the proposed cuts will indeed impair the access that Medi-Cal nursing home patients have to DPNFs.
Reiterating the reason for temporarily suspending long-term care admissions
Suspending all external long-term care admissions to the Jewish Home for approximately 24 months is directly related to the logistics of closing a building on our campus, a building that is obsolete and thus not part of our site master plan.
Effective March 31, 2011, the Jewish Home’s board of trustees made the difficult decision to begin the closure of nursing units in our oldest building housing residents. Because of its outdated structural systems, inefficient design to address the needs of an ever-increasing frailty of residents, and high maintenance costs, this building is not part of our Silver Avenue campus’s long-term plans. The transition of residents from this wing to other existing locations on our campus is in the process of being thoughtfully implemented and sensitively executed.
To sum up: The closure of our oldest residential building and hence the internal movement of existing Jewish Home residents so that they will not have to be relocated off our Silver Avenue campus is the singular reason why all external long-term care admissions (i.e., those emanating from the community) are being temporarily suspended for approximately two years. To be very clear: the Jewish Home’s board and staff are not abandoning the mission of serving the most frail and vulnerable elderly in our community … today, or in the future.
Staff matters
The Jewish Home prides itself on being a good employer. Even as we implement difficult changes to address the short- and long-term issues facing the Home and the industry in general, staff remains our most valuable asset. We appreciate that the union leadership of SEIU-UHW is aligned with our commitment to all our staff, and that they recognize the real challenges and issues facing the Jewish Home. I am pleased to tell you that the motivation and desire to work collaboratively is resulting in extremely positive outcomes.
As we continue our efforts through these challenging and changing times, I remain grateful to our entire Jewish Home family – from those of you on our campus to all of you in our community – for your ongoing support, interest, and confidence in our future.
Daniel Ruth
President & Chief Executive Officer
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