Wednesday, September 11, 1996

Bullock Calls For Investigation Into Nursing Home Board

By Associated Press

AUSTIN (AP) - Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock has called for an investigation into the nursing home administrators board because of its inaction in handling complaints that could result in disciplinary action.

Bullock said Tuesday he has asked the state auditor's office and the Texas Department of Health to conduct the investigation.

The Austin American-Statesman reported today that at the same time the disciplinary cases are going without proper investigation, the board has a budget surplus it is trying to eliminate.

The board, which licenses and regulates administrators, has proposed cutting in half the fees that the 2,700 nursing home administrators must pay to renew their licenses every two years. It would be cut from $250 to $125.

"The lieutenant governor wants to get to the heart of this matter, and it's got to be cleaned up," said Mike Hailey, spokesman for Bullock.

The Texas Legislature authorized the board to spend $172,400 on staff and expenses in the 1996 budget year that ended Aug. 31.

But board members say state budget rules prohibit them from using surplus fees to hire employees.
According to state records, the board was left with a surplus of $162,365 that will revert to the state's general revenue account.

The board projects it will have a $193,680 surplus for the 1997 budget year.

The board received more than 300 complaints during the 1996 budget year, but has only one full-time investigator. The American-Statesman said the board's three-person administrative staff has so much trouble keeping up with the volume of cases that some files have been lost.

Records also show that staff members have failed to mail required notification to some administrators recommended for discipline and to people who file complaints against nursing home administrators.

The board's litigating attorney has warned that failure to send quarterly notification letters to administrators accused of wrongdoing could jeopardize the state's ability to win the cases.

The Austin newspaper reported earlier that a two-month investigation found that the board has failed to discipline a single nursing home director in the past three years.

Nearly 100,000 people live in the state's 1,200 nursing homes.

Bullock and Gov. George W. Bush responded to the newspaper report by issuing directives to officials to correct the problems.

The lieutenant governor said he is studying whether the health department, which oversees the administrators board, can transfer money from other programs to pay for more nursing administrator staff and investigators.