Assembly Bill
74
Assembly Joint Resolution 28
Assembly Joint Resolution 32
Patrick E. Fuller
Assembly Chief Clerk
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Reference Bureau Corrections
Assembly amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 1
In enrolling, the following correction was made:
1. Page 2, line 1: delete "8m" and substitute "8b".
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Referral of Agency Reports
State of Wisconsin
Department of Health and Family Services
Madison
June 9, 2003
To the Honorable, the Assembly:
Pursuant to Section
50.04 (5)(fr), Wis. Stats., effective June 17, 1998, the Department is required to submit an annual report to the Legislature related to Class A violations committed by nursing homes (including facilities for the developmentally disabled) and forfeitures assessed on nursing homes for those violations.
The Department issued 18 Class A violations to nursing homes between April 22, 2002 and May 19, 2003. The attached chart details these Class A violations, including the original forfeiture amount assessed and the status of payment. A second chart is enclosed showing the violations reported to the Legislature in May, 2002. At the time of the last submission, the majority of forfeitures had not been assessed. The enclosed chart shows the eventual forfeiture and its status.
It is the Department's goal to assess nursing home forfeitures within 120 days of the survey's exit. The Department briefly met that goal in 2000 and sustained it for a period of 60 days. At that time, both enforcement specialist positions became vacant and remained vacant for four months. After two people were hired for the positions, they completed extensive training over a six month period. This caused a large backlog. In addition, shortly after the positions were filled, there were a couple of litigative cases that took an extensive amount of these positions' time so they were not able to assess new forfeitures at that time.
In addition to the two permanent positions, the Department has temporarily reassigned one position and will be hiring a LTE to work on the backlog. Because both of the people chosen for this project are former employees of the Bureau of Quality Assurance, they are familiar with the forfeiture process, philosophy and goals. This should minimize the time needed to train them. The process is continuously reviewed for effectiveness and efficiency. The Department is working diligently to bring current this backlog.
Sincerely,
Helene Nelson
Secretary
Referred to committee on Aging and Long-Term Care.
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Representative Montgomery moved that the Assembly stand adjourned until 10:00 A.M. on Thursday, June 12.
The question was: Shall the Assembly stand adjourned?
Motion carried.
The Assembly stood adjourned.
11:01 A.M.
