STATEMENT FROM BOB BEITCHER — MPTF President/CEO
The deficiencies asserted by the California Department of Public Health based on its annual “unannounced” survey in June have been widely misreported in the industry news media and blogs. As a result, the MPTF long-term care situation continues to be cast in the negative light created by the vocal family members of some of our residents.
The deficiency relating to the statute governing 30 day Notices of Transfer is a dispute over administrative procedure and very much a case of form over substance. The Department is interpreting the statute together with MPTF’s closure plan to mean that MPTF was required to issue 30-day notices of transfer to residents who voluntarily (!!) left the facility after announcement of the closure. For example, we have residents who gave us very short notice, as in 2 days, that they had been offered space in a community facility and were preparing to move. This deficiency is telling us that at that time we should have then provided a 30-day Notice of Transfer, essentially an eviction notice. This is an unprecedented and, we believe, incorrect interpretation of the statute that requires notices for involuntary transfers. It’s obvious why we wouldn’t have served a 30-Day notice: besides being contrary to our understanding of our responsibility under the statute, it would have been insulting to the residents and families who understood the Fund’s desire to phase out the long term care facility and responded accordingly by voluntarily initiating a transfer, and furthermore it would have been utterly confusing to hand them the equivalent of an eviction notice at that time.
We have appealed the alleged deficiency through a dispute resolution process, but do not expect the Department to reverse the surveyors’ conclusions. The Department is holding to the claim that any transfer, voluntary or involuntary, should be preceded by a 30-day
notice, while our claim is that it should only apply to involuntary transfers initiated by the MPTF. Our intention is to vigorously defend our interpretation of the statute and take it to the highest levels in the system.
Some have used other portions of the survey results to support their claims that MPTF has cut back on services and is under-staffed or otherwise neglectful of the residents, but it is important to note that the survey found no deviations in staffing levels or serious deficiencies in care provided to the residents. Deficiencies in documentation, yes, but not in provision of care. To refute the anecdotal claims of deterioration in quality, we have attached the results of a recent survey compiled by the Center on Medicaid-Medicare Services reflecting nothing short of outstanding performance in Quality Indicators by the Fund staff at the long term care facility.
Once again, I assure you that management and staff remain absolutely committed to safeguarding the health and security of our LTC residents, that our staffing levels conform to all regulatory requirements, and that we do not condone or tolerate any employee behavior that isn’t consistent with our policies. (more…)
