Imagine this:

• A world where elected officials hear the cries of people who want to remain in their homes.
• A world where thoughtful long term care planning does not include institutions.
• A world where local governments close down nursing facilities to invest in community-based services.

Sound too good to be true?

Well, it is happening in Albany County, but here is what you couldn’t have imagined:

The Albany County Legislature is fighting back and demanding the county build a new nursing home!

The Albany County Executive, Mike Breslin, presented a long term care plan to the legislature that focused on community-based supports and services. It is about choice. It calls for expanding existing community-based programs, such as EISEP, home delivered meals, consumer directed care, and more. Community-based services are not only what people prefer, but they are far more cost effective than institutional settings.

The County Legislature’s Special Facilities Committee on the Nursing Home pushed back so hard – with the support of the unions and the family members of the current county nursing home residents – that they demanded to pass a resolution to vote on building a new nursing facility. The Committee, on its own accord, had a friend of County Legislator Frank Commisso, draft blueprints for a new nursing facility. Committee Chairman, Gary Domalewicz, said the drawing represents “the future of elderly care in Albany County” (Times Union, October 1, 2009).

“The future of elderly care in Albany County”?!?!?

Is that the future you want? Is that the future you want for your friends and family?

Albany County has the potential to be a model for community-based long term care supports and services, but instead they may be heading down the dangerous road of more status quo. The fear-mongering and uninformed statements that people are spewing is appalling, such as “Closing the Nursing Home = Elder Abuse.” They claim that the County Executive is going to “throw grandma out on the street.” How about the fact that Legislators like Commisso and Domalewicz care more about getting re-elected than giving people freedom! How about the fact that unions care more about their paychecks than your choices.

And to all of you policy wonks: the state is watching.

The New York State Department of Health is aware of Albany County’s plan to shift away from institutional care to community-based services. For obvious reasons, they cannot take a position on the matter, but from a policy standpoint, they are waiting to see if Albany County can pull it off. Particularly from a budget perspective, community-based services offer significant savings and in this difficult budget climate, the State is looking for ways to save money. If Albany County’s long term plan for community-based services gets defeated by the people who want to build a nursing facility, then the State may think that community-based services are not the right direction for the State because it is not what people want.

So, what do you want? I want my county to spend its long term care dollars on community-based services so I can remain independent in my home!