Branstad has met his nursing home inspection promises

The people of Iowa elected Gov. Terry Branstad. He appointed Rod Roberts to head the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals. A few weeks into the job, Roberts eliminated 13 jobs. Ten were nursing home inspectors. Two were part-time lawyers who investigated complaints of abuse in nursing homes.
During this year’s session of the Legislature, lawmakers restored money for some of the jobs, but Roberts isn’t going to use it to fill those positions. Inspectors were needed, according to DIA staff and the federal government.
But the Department of Inspections and Appeals now says the inspectors are not needed and the department is able to carry out its responsibilities without them, thank you. It’s almost impossible to evaluate that assertion because the department recently blocked access to statistical information about its inspections and trends from those inspections.
This means the owners of Iowa nursing homes have fewer regulators to deal with. Vulnerable Iowans have fewer regulators to protect them. And the people of this state are entitled to think that they’ve been wronged by their government.
An editorial would usually provide guidance about what should happen next. We could do that. There is plenty to recommend. But we think it is unlikely at this point in Iowa’s history that hiring more nursing home inspectors would make any difference in the lives of Iowa’s seniors and the relatives who entrust their care to nursing homes.
We aren’t defeatist — just realistic.
Branstad made clear in his campaign that he thought the state was too tough on the businesses that care for seniors in nursing homes and assisted living centers. He accused inspectors of having a “gotcha” attitude. He said he wanted to have more of a collaborative relationship with these businesses — even though its job is to regulate their operations.
And then he appointed Roberts to head the agency responsible for oversight of hundreds of homes that care for thousands of elderly or disabled people. Roberts, a former candidate for governor and minister, had described himself as being intent on creating a business-friendly climate in this state.
One of the truisms of politics is that elections have consequences. And the consequence of the 2010 election isn’t just smaller government in Iowa. It is a philosophy. With the Branstad administration, that philosophy is painfully clear: less government regulation of business. It doesn’t matter if that business has been riddled with complaints of abuse and neglect for years. It doesn’t matter if people’s lives and federal compliance requirements and money are at risk.
Adding more nursing home inspectors wouldn’t necessarily better protect nursing home residents — not if the message being sent to regulators by the Branstad administration and its actions is to befriend nursing homes, rather than regulate them.
What happens next is up to Iowans. They can put pressure on the governor they elected to adopt a different approach when it comes to nursing homes — one that not only restores inspectors but encourages them to fairly but rigorously oversee nursing homes and punish the owners when wrongdoing occurs. They can vote Branstad out of office in three years.
Or Iowans can accept that this is how it’s going to be — that we are going to live in a state where the desires of industry are favored over the needs of our most vulnerable people, that it doesn’t matter if there is money provided to oversee nursing homes, because the will to act simply isn’t there.
It’s up to the people of Iowa to let the governor know this is not the Iowa we want.
Source http://www.desmoinesregister.com/