LANSING – State Representatives Robert Jones (D-Kalamazoo) and Kathy Angerer (D-Dundee) announced today that they will hold a hearing to examine the growing role private equity firms have in providing health care. The meeting comes in the wake of a private equity firm's announcement that it will buy 28 Michigan nursing homes owned by Manor Care Inc.
Jones is chair of the House Senior Health, Security and Retirement Committee; Angerer is chair of the House Health Policy Committee. The public is invited to attend the hearing, which is scheduled from 10 a.m. to noon on Friday, May 2, at Senior Services, 918 Jasper in Kalamazoo.
"It is our duty to protect our seniors and ensure that they get the best care possible," Jones said. "We must push for transparency in ownership and ensure that a private equity takeover of Manor Care won't negatively impact the quality of patient care. I invite our residents to come share their thoughts and concerns at the hearing."
Jones, Angerer and leading health care advocates are concerned about whether Manor Care will be able to offer a high quality of patient care under the ownership of Carlyle, a profit-driven private equity firm. A Sept. 23, 2007, New York Times investigation found that nursing homes acquired by private equity firms, as a whole, suffered from more serious quality-of-care deficiencies and cuts in staffing, sometimes far below levels required by law.
Concerned residents and officials set to testify at the hearing include: John Weir, Long Term Care Ombudsman for Kalamazoo, Barry, Branch, Calhoun, and St. Joseph counties; Judy Sivak, Director of Area Agency on Aging, Region 3-A; and Alison Hirschel of the Michigan Poverty Law Program and Campaign for Quality Care, and President of the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care.
"Given the magnitude and implications of this buyout, we must ensure that quality care is not compromised," Angerer said. "Our seniors have worked hard all their lives, and they deserve security in their golden years. It's imperative that patient quality and care not suffer when the people profiting from nursing homes don't actually manage them."