By Patricia Cullen on 4/21/2010 11:59 AM

As we enter two weeks of state-convention hysteria to winnow down the candidates for governor, I thought it appropriate for this week’s blog to focus on political activism from a more personal perspective. . . .

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By Patricia Cullen on 3/30/2010 8:39 AM

The healthcare reform bill signed into law by President Obama on March 23 contains many, many provisions that will need to be interpreted before final implementation. Just the summary of provisions impacting long-term care is 24 pages long—the actual bill is over 2,000 plus pages! I want to assure you, however, that we are working on an implementation plan, with input from our national association, various consultants and vendor partners.

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By Patricia Cullen on 3/16/2010 1:40 PM

Over the past few weeks I have been traveling the state meeting with editorial boards on our “Change Is Imperative” document and the topic-specific fact cards we have been distributing to members and legislators. I have asked members from each news region to join me with their personal stories—this has certainly added to the discussion and local interest.

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By Patricia Cullen on 2/17/2010 1:54 PM

Gov. Pawlenty released his plan to erase a $1.2 billion budget deficit on February 15, 2010. You already know the highlights/lowlights of the proposed budget reductions in our area in objective terms—here is a less objective perspective.  

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By Patricia Cullen on 2/4/2010 3:20 PM

With the precinct caucuses earlier this week, the election season is now officially underway in Minnesota and the stakes have never been so high. Not only do we have a highly contested race for governor on the horizon, but all legislators and constitutional officers are up for election/re-election this year.

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By Patricia Cullen on 1/7/2010 10:03 AM

Like many of you who have been tracking the budget stories in the media, I flipped the calendar page over to 2010 with a sense of dread. We have known for a long time that this day would be coming—that the state budget would reach this point of structural instability, and that the low hanging fruit we used in the past as budget balancing band aids would all be gone.

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By Patricia Cullen on 12/16/2009 9:16 AM

Since many of you will be taking time off of work at some point during the last two weeks of the year, I thought I would write my final blog posting for 2009 a bit early. 

We have a tradition at the Association of holding a staff retreat in mid-December to look back at the past year’s successes and lessons; and to look ahead just a bit at the new round of challenges. In doing the preparation work for the staff retreat, I  realized some of these reflections should be shared with the membership. 

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By Patricia Cullen on 11/24/2009 12:05 PM

There was tension during the months of October and early November caused by an upcoming expose on deaths of old people when they fell in nursing homes - the last thing we need during a time of great budget strain and a rather bleak financial future. But, the numbers looked “interesting” and the need for a story arose from a collection of data from death certificates.

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By Patricia Cullen on 10/12/2009 2:10 PM

After spending a few days with my peers from around the country at the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) convention, and after getting updated on challenges with both the Medicare and Medicaid program in a variety of depressing ways, the focus on financing reform has never seemed as important as it is today. 

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By Patricia Cullen on 9/28/2009 2:11 PM

As we await the October release of an investigative story on falls in nursing facilities, which we believe will have a sensational-and not too positive-tone, I think about the last few stories I read in “major” newspapers about older adult services.

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