After two amendments, the House Health and Human Services Committee advanced a bill to change statutes regarding state nursing homes. South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s Gary Ellenbolt reports members won’t change requirements for administrators.
Current state law requires a four-year degree to be licensed as a nursing care facility administrator in South Dakota. The State Board of Nursing Facility Administrators wants that law changed to allow those with associate’s degrees and experience to run facilities. Loren Diekman chairs the board, and says a lot of capable people aren’t given a chance to be administrators.
Diekman testified, “Last week, the board received an application from a nurse who was seeking administrative licensure so she could work at a facility in Martin. She had excellent experience in long-term care, serving as a Director of Nursing and Chief Operating Officer of several nursing facilities, for decades. She met all criteria for licensure, except the baccalaureate requirement. She had obtained an Associate of Applied Science degree in Nursing prior to entering her profession. Therefore, she did not qualify for licensure.”
At least one other health care board is not in favor of all the changes. Mark Deak with the South Dakota Health Care Assocation spoke in favor of the bill—but said he and other members are concerned about tweaking the education requirements.
“The fact is," says Deak, "nursing homes are more complex and challenging to administrate, than they have ever been. Nuclear power might be a little bit more regulated, but I imagine we’re pretty close to that. There’s tremendous reimbursement pressure, as administrators work toward payment from Medicare, Medicaid, private pay, long-term care insurance policies—and their margins are razor-thin.”
Following committee discussion on the licensure requirements, Brandon Republican Representative Scott Eklund amended House Bill 10-25 to continue the four-year degree requirement. That passed, as did an amendment to allow spiritual healing practices in nursing homes. The amended measure goes to the full House after a vote of 10 yays and 1 nay.