Committee update - Minnesota State Legislature

Committee update
Committee, chaired by Sen. John
Hottinger (DFL-Mankato), met Tues.,
Feb. 1, to hear testimony on the vision
and future of long term care issues in
Minnesota. Those testifying consisted
of representatives from Care Providers,
the MN Health and Housing Alliance,
the Department of Human Services
(DHS), and the MN Board on Aging.
Gayle Kvenvold, president and CEO
of MN Health and Housing Alliance,
and Rick Carter, president and CEO of
Care Providers gave a joint presentation
on the “Long-Term Care Imperative, a
Minnesota Collaboration for Changes in
Older Adult Services.” Kvenvold spoke
on the current state of funded older
adult care, citing decreasing lengths of
stay in nursing homes, negative operating
margins, and staff shortages as
commonplace due to declining occupation
and lack of financial incentives.
Statistics were presented by Kvenvold
that showed the median length of stay in
a nursing home decreasing from 286
days in 1991 to 53 days in 1997. A
different chart broke the median
operating margin of negative 1.8 per
cent for all nursing homes down into
four divisions based on numbers of beds,
all of which had percentages below zero.
Furthermore, Carter stated that employee
turnover leaves 4,000 to 5,000
positions in older adult care open on
any given day. Carter then spoke on the
collaboration’s beliefs about the future
of older adult care. He said that central
to those beliefs is the integration of
marketplace incentives into the services
by way of moving purchasing power to
the consumer. Such a change in funding,
stated Kvenvold, would shape the
form of provided care, presumably
toward single occupancy living environments
with community engagement.
Carter also stated that operating in the
marketplace will drive wage compensation
for workers to the market rate.
The committee then heard from
Robert Held, director of Continuing
Care for the Elderly for the Dept. of
Human Services (DHS). Held echoed
the findings of the first presentation,
stating that the market is changing and
the state services face economic concerns.
Bed occupancy in nursing homes,
said Held, has dropped for favored
community integrated care, such as
home care, and current admissions to
nursing homes are increasingly for post-
8
hospital stay. Held proposed to, among
other things, continue development
between DHS and private industry,
discuss vouchers, and undertake the
right-sizing of current nursing homes.
To provide the best care to aging adults,
Held stated that an in depth discussion
of long term care needs to take place.
Such a discussion, said Hottinger, is
something that “we as a Legislature need
to be full participants in.”
Speaking before the committee last
was Marge Jameson, chair of Health and
Long Term Care for the Minnesota
Board on Aging, who talked about
elderly care and services. Jameson
stated that aging Minnesotans want
independence, the ability to stay at
home, smaller nursing homes that are
community based, and the development
of age friendly communities.
Higher Education Budget
Division
Higher ed programs showcased
The Higher Education Budget Division,
meeting Weds., Feb. 2, heard
presentations showcasing six successful
programs at the Minnesota Colleges and
Universities system (MnSCU) and at
the University of Minnesota (U of M).
The committee is chaired by Sen. LeRoy
Stumpf (DFL-Thief River Falls).
Along with these programs, Chancellor
Morrie Anderson said in his opening
comments there was at least one other
“good news story” to share with the
committee. That’s a 6.6 percent increase
in enrollment at Minnesota’s 36 state
colleges and universities in the fall of
1999 over 1998.
Carol Johnson, superintendent of
Minneapolis Public Schools, introduced
the Urban Teacher Training Program.
It’s designed to create a more diverse
teacher force in both urban and Greater
Minnesota schools by increasing the
number of teachers of color and attract
low-income, first generation college
students to the profession, she said.
The Urban Teacher Training Program,
implemented this semester at both
Minneapolis Community and Technical
College and Inver Hills Community
College, has already attracted nearly
100 students, the majority from communities
of color, she said. Students will
begin by earning a two year associate
arts degree, and a third facility, Metropolitan
State University, is gearing up
to provide the last two years of a fouryear
degree, she said.
Tien Le, one of 80 students enrolled
in the program at Minneapolis Community
and Technical College, spoke to
the division about the program. He
grew up in many schools and many
states, and said he wishes there had been
more diversity among his instructors. “If
there had been more diversity among
my teachers, I think it might have
helped me relate better to the world
outside the classroom and be more
comfortable with people of other
ethnicities,” he said.
A pilot program was outlined by
United Parcel Service’s (UPS) William
Majeras. Partnering UPS with MnSCU,
the “Earn To Learn Program” is the
largest such program ever established by
UPS and is designed to help up to 1,200
students who work part-time at UPS
obtain a college education paid for by
the employer.
UPS offers college students who are
also part-time UPS employees tuition
reimbursements of up to $3,000 a year
for five years, he said. To be eligible,
students must work regularly part-time
at one of the Metro Area’s three UPS
hubs - Eagan, Southeast Minneapolis or
the Minneapolis/St. Paul International
Airport. In addition, students who work
part-time are also eligible for lowinterest
loans that will be partially
forgiven if they work for UPS for more
than a year, Majeras said.
Two committee members, Sen. Cal
Larson (R-Fergus Falls) and Steve
Murphy (DFL-Red Wing) were treated
to a “hands-on” demonstration of a third
new program at Rochester Community
and Technical College. The Chiropractic
Technicians program trains students
to perform a variety of skills, from office
work to administering certain therapies
under the direction of a doctor, said
director Shirley Wilson.
The nine-month program boasts 100
percent job placement and technicians
can earn anywhere from $9.50 to $15
per hour, depending on location, she
said. It may be expanded to other
Minnesota communities by using
interactive TV, she said.
U of M Vice President Christine
Maziar introduced four students who
opted for educations in high tech areas