House Speaker Joe Straus Praised for Touring TRISUN Care Center, Sees First-Hand Excellent Care Provided to Seniors in San Antonio Area

Speaker Thanked for Making Key Appearance During Celebration of National Nursing Home Week

SAN ANTONIO, May 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In thanking Texas House Speaker Joe Straus for touring TRISUN Care Center Windcrest, the facility Administrator, Holly Ruhmann, said on-site events of this nature help policymakers better understand why facilities like hers are integral to the local economy and jobs base, how nursing homes are changing in terms of the nature of its patients, and how ongoing shortfalls surrounding Medicare and Medicaid funding undermines not just facility operations, but seniors' care itself.

"During National Nursing Home Week, our patients and staff are grateful and honored Speaker Straus has taken the time to tour our facility, and to see first-hand how nursing homes like ours are fighting daily to provide the excellent care our seniors deserve, while also facing a challenging federal and state reimbursement system that all too often falls short of actually meeting the cost of providing care," Ruhmann said.

"National Nursing Home Week is about recognizing the contributions of nursing home patients and staff who enrich the lives of so many in our community," she continued. "We are proud here at Windcrest to help draw attention to this critical means of care only facilities like ours can provide, and to honor those who make a positive difference in the lives of our nation's senior citizens."

Ruhmann said it is essential throughout 2010 to have an informed public discussion to ensure Austin lawmakers understand why keeping Texas' Medicaid program financially sound in the face of deep Medicare cuts from Washington is vital to protecting seniors in San Antonio and throughout the state. She pointed out that passage of federal health care reform just weeks ago entailed ten year cuts of $14.6 billion nationally – on top of a $725 million, ten year cut just for Texas passed by way of regulation in October 2009. The worsening financial squeeze on our facility and the funding our frail, vulnerable patients depend upon, she said, deserves more attention and more governmental emphasis.

"Throughout the year, facilities like ours will continue to highlight the fact that meeting seniors' ongoing care needs -- as well as sustaining a strong workforce and local jobs base -- will be contingent upon sustaining appropriate Medicaid funding levels from Austin in the face of deep cuts to Medicare in Washington," she continued. "With sixty percent of our facility costs directly related to staffing, it has not taken long for the cumulative funding squeeze to hurt."

The facility Administrator also pointed out that independent health experts and studies corroborate that Medicare and Medicaid funding must be viewed together – not in isolation. "The combination of a squeeze to both programs presents a clear and present danger to every aspect of facility operations -- and ultimately to San Antonio seniors' ongoing ability to access the care they both require and deserve," Ruhmann stated. "The bottom line at our modern facility, and the many in Texas like it, is that adequate, stable and consistent Medicaid and Medicare funding will always be directly linked with high care quality and staffing stability."

In stressing the informational, non-partisan nature of this facility tour effort, Ruhmann concluded, "The continued provision of quality nursing home care for every citizen who requires it is a non-partisan public health imperative, and we commend Speaker Straus for his dedicated commitment to our most vulnerable, and to those here today who provide their care." 

Founded in 1950, the Texas Health Care Association (THCA) is the largest long term care association in Texas. THCA represents a broad spectrum of long-term care providers and professionals offering long term, rehabilitative and specialized health care services. Member facilities, owned by both for-profit and non-profit entities, include nursing facilities, specialized rehabilitation facilities, and assisted living facilities.

SOURCE Texas Health Care Association