Senator Williams to Lead Nursing Home Reform Review

A Tulsa state legislator will lead a Senate review of the Oklahoma nursing home industry, with plans to offer reform legislation before the legislative session concludes at the end of May.

Senator Penny Williams, who has been working to improve staffing levels in nursing homes for a number of years, said the ongoing investigation of the State Health Department's nursing home inspection process underscores the need for a thorough review and legislation this year.

"For many years, I've been pushing to raise staffing levels in nursing homes and address other quality of care issues that face elderly Oklahomans. The events of the past few days should help us shine the light of day on those issues so we can forge something good out of a bad situation," said Senator Williams.

In the days to come, the Tulsa legislator said she would be gathering information about the state's current system of oversight and its responsiveness to public concerns, trying to identify areas that legislation may be able to address.

"It's critical that our oversight system be responsive to the concerns of families who have loved ones in nursing homes. Their complaints should be heard and investigated by state regulators, not pushed aside and ignored," she said.

According to Senator Williams, two issues that must be a part of any review are quality of care and nursing home staffing ratios.

"I think it's important to do more than just crack down on the people who may be tempted to abuse our nursing home system. We also need to do everything we can to ensure that elderly Oklahomans receive the high quality nursing home care they deserve," said Senator Williams.

Although only three weeks remain in the legislative session, Senator Williams is confident that a review can be completed in a relatively speedy manner. She noted that appropriate amendments could be added to any one of a number of active bills and passed before the conclusion of the
legislative session on May 26th.

"Obviously, we don't want to make a rush to judgment, but we don't want to miss an opportunity to improve nursing home regulations either. I think there's time to take a close look at this situation and do the things necessary to draft meaningful reform legislation," said Senator Williams.