QUALITY
FIRST !
(By Jan Bergemann, President CCFJ,Inc.)
AARP Florida called and more than 1000
citizens from all over Florida came to support the hotly debated issue
of LONG TERM CARE. In a well organized Rally the AARP and many other organizations
like CCFJ, Inc. supported legislative reform to help our elderly citizens
in Nursing Homes all over Florida. The AARP strongly supports improving
quality of care by increasing staffing and better training of staff, and
strongly opposes the kind of tort reform which virtually eliminates the residents'
right to accountability. The industry desires onerous tort reform which
will make it almost impossible for a resident or a resident's family
to hold a nursing home accountable for its bad actions and failures of good care.
It is again a hard fought battle between
the industry and the consumer, who has to fight the deep pocket corporations.
In this case the consumers have found some legislative gladiators, who
are willing to stand up against the temptation of campaign funding.
" QUALITY FIRST "
was the battle cry
of the supporters at this rally, who finally made their voices heard on
the steps of the Capitol. This is not only a battle fought for the people
in Nursing Homes in the moment, but as well a big stepping stone for the
future. Do you know, when you or one of your loved ones will be in need
of Nursing Home Care?
Nancy Argenziano,
Distr.43(R) delivered a very emotional speech in support of the long overdue
reform. She asked for everybody's support, because the stakes are high
and the industry pulled out all the big guns to override these proposed
reforms. They are trying to avoid the responsibility for failures to provide
the care and are attempting to pass legislation, which will prevent citizens
from taking them to court for their mistakes. They use the excuse of high
insurance premiums and the threat of the industry pulling out of Florida.
Other states have
tried it to no avail. As long as the CEOs and Presidents of these corporations
are making millions of $$$s a year in salaries, it seems to be ridiculous
to talk about a crisis. It clearly shows the profits being made by these
huge corporations at the expense of the elderly, sometimes totally helpless
citizens of our State.
Nancy Argenziano
underlined the necessity for these reforms in order to protect the welfare
of our seniors. She definitely deserves the support of all citizens in
her undertaking.
Representative Lois
Frankel spoke very much in favor of needed reform. She spoke of the obligation
our generation owes our elders, who helped make our country what it is
today. Reasonable reforms, which will help the people in Nursing Homes,
is imperative. Proper financing and necessary staffing are overdue and
need to be regulated by our government agencies.
The legislature
has the obligation to find a way to make these reforms reasonable for all
parties involved. She emphasized the
need for quality care and her hope that the legislature will find a solution
to these obvious problems during this session. She definitely agreed
with the battle cry of the assembled citizens for "Quality First"!
Governor Jeb Bush,
accompanied by Lt. Governor Frank Brogan, spoke of helping our Elders in
all kinds of issues. He underlined the statement made in the proposed budget,
which was increased again in regards to drugs and medicare.
He underlined as
well the need for good Long Term Care and pledged his support for these
reforms. He believes that at least three major components are necessary:
1) improving the
quality of care in nursing homes with an additional $46 million investment
2) providing more
alternatives to nursing homes by investing $54 million in community and
home based care, and
3) implementing
reasonable litigation reform and measures that will help stabilize the
insurance rates for quality providers of long term care services. He assured
the many interested citizens present that the Governor's Administration
is committed to insuring that nursing homes in the state of Florida provide
the highest quality services to Florida's most fragile citizens.
The most emotional
speech was given by our friend Anna Spinella. Anna is a long time activist
for Long Term Care Reform. She spoke with tears the story of three of her
close relatives, who lived and died in Nursing Homes under most incredible
circumstances. She testified in front of various committees and pleaded
for necessary reforms for several years. She told of the horror stories
she heard from people in Nursing Homes. She told of the problems of insufficient
staffing, of nurses, who only have two hands but 20 people in need. She
spoke about the unwillingness of the industry to supply the much needed
help for these people, who are fighting to get everything necessary done,
but fail because of lack of help.
Anna pleaded for
help from our legislators to support these reforms and for betterment of
the lives of our citizens living in Nursing Homes.
If you heard her
speech you know why these reforms need your support. She pleaded with the
citizens of the State of Florida: let your local legislators know that
you support this cause and urge them to make the right decision in the
upcoming votes in favor of these reforms.
Through Anna's initiative
members of CCFJ, Inc. passed around cards, which many of the supporters
signed with names of loved ones who live or died in Nursing Homes. Hundreds
of cards were returned, quite a few even telling some sad stories. These
cards will be presented to the Governor to show how big the real problem
is. If you want to add your card or your story, please send an e-mail to
Anna Spinella at : [email protected] |
