RIHCA Chair on the State of Seniors Care in Rhode Island
In the December 2013 edition of Senior Digest News, Scott Sanborn provides an excellent summary on the issues faced by seniors and caregivers in Rhode Island. Mr Sanborn is the current chair of the Rhode Island Health Care Association (RIHCA), the state’s “the state’s largest professional organization of skilled nursing facilities”. He is also an administrator for Kindred Health Care.
Sanborn notes that,
“this year, more than 7,000 nursing home patients were able to return to the homes and communities they love, following a short nursing home stay for rehabilitation or recuperation. Their average length of stay was just 27 days.”
and that,
“nursing homes are an important transition between hospital and home, and they serve more than twice the number of individuals needing short-term care rather than long-term care.”
He makes mention of the “high marks” our State caregivers received from their residents, and that for the 8th consecutive year, our State has exceeded the national average.
In terms of challenges for the coming year, Sanborn comments on the state’s new long-term care funding program, the “Integrated Care Initiative”. Adding that the new system will involve Medicaid recipients being auto-enrolled in the program administered by Neighborhood Health Plans of Rhode Island (NHPRI).
The full text of the article can be found at “RIHCA chair cheers 2013“.