The Beatrice State Developmental Center, home to more than 300 Nebraskans with severe developmental disabilities, will likely see its population drop in the next few years.

State leaders said Thursday they hope to reduce the number of people at the state institution in light of continued staffing shortages and federal investigations.   

Two federal agencies investigating care at the Beatrice center consistently point to problems created by staffing shortages, said John    Wyvill, director of the Division of Developmental Disabilities within the state Department of Health and Human Services. 

“I personally decided that we needed to be proactive, to start moving on some of these issues,” said Wyvill, who took over as division director  about two months ago.

On Thursday, Wyvill outlined a plan that includes assessing  clients, moving some of them to community programs and creating a pilot program to give clients experience with community care.

“We plan to right-size, revitalize and re-evaluate BSDC’s role in the developmental disabilities community,” he said  in a prepared news release.

This is not an attempt to eliminate the institution, Wyville said in a telephone interview Thursday. But he said he didn’t know how many people might remain at the center  in future years.

“We don’t have a magic number,” he said. “The focus is to make sure we can provide the best level of care or services with the staff we have.” 

Federal surveyors have said some people at BSDC might be ready to go into community programs, nursing homes or other settings, Wyvill said.

The state will also reassess the role of the 31-bed hospital on the Beatrice campus, which now has six patients, Wyvill said.

And a thrift shop on the campus will likely be moved into Beatrice, where residents of the center will be able to work in a community setting, he said. 

The announcement is in part a response to federal inspectors’ concerns.

Three times in a little more than a year, federal inspection teams associated with the Medicaid program found serious deficiencies at the Beatrice center.

The Medicaid program pays about half  of the $50 million annual cost of operating the institution, and continued problems jeopardize that funding.

A separate Department of Justice investigation could lead to court action requiring the state to allow clients to live in the most “integrative setting possible,” Wyvill said.

Staffing shortages have been a constant theme with both inspection teams, he said.

Beatrice has 736 full- and part- time staff members and 118 on-call workers to serve its 329 clients. 

That meets “minimum staffing requirements,” Wyvill said. However, there are 100 vacancies, and Beatrice has consistent difficulties recruiting and retaining staff.     

The state wants to do more than meet the minimum, Wyvill said.   

“We are not content to meet the minimum.  We strive to be the very best we can be,” he said.  

The news that state leaders want to reduce the center’s population is encouraging given staffing problems, said Tim Shaw, executive director of the Nebraska Advocacy Services.

“(It reflects) the reality that they have a significant staffing shortage and problems in meeting the needs of residents,” Shaw said. 

That agency has scheduled a Wednesday news conference to list its concerns and recommendations for the Beatrice center.

Reach Nancy Hicks at 473-7250 or nhicks@journalstar.com