PHARMACIST STEVE

Late last year, the department was buried in a backlog of more than 2,000 reports of abuse at healthcare facilities. Health department officials say they have since caught up, thanks to help from the Department of Human Services and from switching from a paper processing system to an electronic one.

“We’ve made a ton of impressive progress,” MDH Commissioner Jan Malcolm said. “But, we’re a long way from where we need to be.”

In cases where neglect or abuse occurs at a healthcare facility, reports are initially referred to the Minnesota Department of Health. The department reviews the case to determine if it has merit. If it does, they begin proceedings against the care center. Cases going to criminal court are rare.

“Even in situations where (the Minnesota Department of Health) could substantially prove what the conduct was, that doesn’t mean it can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt,” Olmsted County Attorney Mark Ostrem said.

Help from the Department of Human Services will phase out by the end of the year, but Malcolm said the health department can begin filling some vacancies now that they have new procedures in place to handle reports.

Malcolm said although they have better procedures in place to process complaints individually, they lack a system to track trends and analyze the data.

“It’s just a front-end document system,” she said. “There’s a ton of information in our system that isn’t being used.”

While handling and analyzing reports of abuse and neglect is an important short-term goal, Malcolm acknowledged more needs to be done to address the root causes that trigger those reports.

Elder care-related provisions in the Legislature’s omnibus supplemental budget bill fell short in protecting people in care facilities, said Kris Sundberg, president of Elder Voice Family Advocates.

Before the session convened, Gov. Mark Dayton had called for a standalone bill that would address elder care abuse and regulation. A bill from the senate that outlined facility monitoring, required licensure of assisted living facilities and other provisions never made it to the floor of the House.

“We got caught in the midst of political gamesmanship,” Sandberg said.

Malcolm said she, too, was disappointed a standalone bill wasn’t presented to the governor. She also acknowledged the challenges the care industry faces with caps on state and federal funding for facilities.

“We need a long-term fix,” she said.