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Robert Van Dyk |
December 22, 2010
By: Robert Van Dyk, Chair, AHCA Board of Governors
Reflecting on the many accomplishments we achieved this past year, I am more determined than ever to change the outdated perceptions that still persist in our nation's capital and across the country. We've made progress to be sure; yet, our commitment to quality and care of our aging society has been largely overlooked. As I told AHCA/NCAL members at our annual convention, our profession is seen as the "Rodney Dangerfield" of health care… we get no respect.
Although many of us have devoted our lives to understanding and providing the care America’s seniors need, the long term and post-acute care sector does not receive the attention it deserves. While others have a seat at the health care table, we’re on the menu. Perhaps this is because policymakers in Washington, DC, as well as the general public, know very little about what we do. They don’t know that the care hospitals provide on a Thursday for about $3,000, we provide for $400 on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And while health care reform will deliver 32 million newly insured customers to hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and others across the health care spectrum, long term and post-acute care will not benefit from such an increase.
As I see it, our dilemma is two-fold - how do we secure our seat at the table, and how do we get policymakers to understand that funding is not just about payment, it’s about people? To me, the answers are rooted in one, simple word - respect.
The work long term and post-acute care providers do each day should command the same level of respect so readily given to our colleagues in hospitals and other health care settings. After all, today's nursing and rehabilitative facility provides the same kind of care available only in hospitals some 20 years ago. Unfortunately, our image has not kept pace with our capacity to provide care. So, we need to bring the public and Congress up to speed.
When we hear policymakers in Washington or back home refer to us as "just business owners,” we need to tell them that we're so much more. In fact, long term and post-acute care isn't about us. It’s about the people we care for, the staff we employ and the families who rely on us to be there for their loved ones and for them.
Changing a decades-old perception is hard work, and AHCA/NCAL cannot do it alone. It will take effort and we will need our colleagues, our patients, residents, staff and family members to back it up. The start of a new year, and a new decade seems like the perfect time to take on such a daunting task. I look forward to sharing much more about this challenge as we usher in 2011.