Mother’s Day is on the first day of National Nursing Home Week this year.
It’s a fitting time to reflect on the many ways we care for our mothers, our grandmothers, our elderly aunties, sisters, neighbors and our entire kupuna community.
This has special importance for Hawaii residents, because we have the greatest longevity of any state in the nation. And, like other states, we have a big wave of baby boomers reaching 70 this year.
This generation is going to need more medical care and assistance as time goes on, not less. But having sufficient resources to care for our elderly is a special challenge for Hawaii, one that will require more collaboration among private and public sector organizations.
As we experience a growing physician shortage in our nation, we need to make sure our kupuna have a sufficient number of doctors available to care for them.
We’ll also need other professionals in ample numbers, such as nurses, therapists and health care administrators.
There also must be community resources to help families care for loved ones, especially seniors with dementia, mental illness and chronic illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease.
For those who cannot live on their own and need skilled-nursing care, Hawaii has nearly 50 free-standing and hospital-based skilled nursing facilities, including 18 on the neighbor islands.
About 4,500 nursing homes beds are in operation across the state.Yet, finding a bed in the right location can be challenging. And reim-bursement through government programs such as Medicaid does not fully cover the cost of care.
In addition, the nursing home population has changed over time; many patients and residents who are admitted have greater care needs. Today, nursing home residents tend to enter at an older age, with more complex health issues to manage.
In short, they are harder and more expensive to care for, requiring advanced training and additional resources.
Recently, Hawaii’s Legislature authorized a one-time inflationary adjustment for the care of Medicaid patients. This is the first inflation adjust-ment in eight years, and it is a much-needed and appreciated boost for local nursing facilities. The money will bring millions in additional federal matching dollars into Hawaii and allow nursing homes to continue providing high-quality care, while investing in the physical plant and retaining trained staff who might otherwise leave for better paying jobs elsewhere.
Hawaii’s nursing homes lead the nation in quality of care, as the national rankings show. This is something of which we should be proud. We want our loved ones to receive the best care, whether they are able to age in place at home or within a nursing home.
In Hawaii, our kupuna are dear to us. As we look to the horizon, several issues loom over us. Will we have enough nursing home beds in the next 10 to 20 years? Will reimbursement rates be sufficient for our nursing homes to continue to provide high-quality care? How will we continue to ensure that we are able to care for our kupuna?
National Nursing Home Week is a great time to pause and be grateful for the excellent care available for our elders in Hawaii and to recommit to working together to sustain affordable quality care options for residents throughout the state.
Our mothers, our kupuna, were there for us, and they need us now.
