Lawmakers on the Legislative Audit Committee have introduced a bill that would clarify the state auditor’s authority to obtain confidential records from state agencies. The legislature should expedite Senate Bill 233, which will facilitate a much-needed examination of state oversight of government-funded nursing homes, where problems have been discovered in the past.
The legislation was made necessary after Gov. Bill Owens and the Department of Public Health and Environment refused to allow the state auditor access to complaint investigation reports for an audit of nursing homes that receive $400 million in federal and state dollars.
If the legislation fails, lawmakers on the committee authorized the auditor to use its subpoena power to gather the records.
We’re not sure what’s behind the refusal to allow auditors to access this material. The governor’s office, the health department and Attorney General John Suthers cite privacy laws.
But the issue is a red herring. We understand that a group advocating for AIDS patients wants to ensure that records remain confidential. Patient advocates need not worry: The auditor follows strict confidentiality procedures.
It’s critical that citizens know how patients in taxpayer-funded homes are being treated and whether state inspectors are doing their jobs. A 2000 audit found that state health inspectors were overlooking serious problems. Federal inspectors who investigated four facilities within days of state inspections discovered eight times as many problems.
As a result of the discrepancies, state auditors hired registered nurses to review 25 inspections done by state health officials. In one nursing home, they found that a patient’s pressure sores were so bad that his foot had to be amputated. State officials had not checked pressure sores as part of their inspection, the 2000 audit report said.
In another home, conditions in 48 of 75 rooms were filthy enough to be a “widespread problem with potential for more than minimal harm” to residents. State inspectors had rated it less harshly, resulting in less severe penalties.
The fact is that a new examination of the state’s 231 nursing homes, where some 17,000 elderly and long-term care patients reside, is overdue. State Auditor Joanne Hill says her office’s “mission is transparency and accountability. We are the taxpayers’ watchdog.” The auditors have a job to do. We urge the legislature to act quickly.
