A consulting firm has been hired to help make improvements at the Beatrice State Development Center, which serves more than 300 Nebraskans with serious developmental disabilities.
NANCY HICKS / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Wednesday, December 12, 2007 6:00 pm
A consulting firm has been hired to help make improvements at the Beatrice State Development Center, which serves more than 300 Nebraskans with serious developmental disabilities.
Liberty Health Care Corp. will help BSDC staff respond to a recent federal inspection team report that found problems in four of the eight areas checked by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
If the state does not make improvements in those areas, Nebraska could lose about $28.5 million in federal funding for the Beatrice center, according to a news release from the state Department of Health and Human Services.
Liberty Health Care, which has 20 years experience in regulatory work, will help staff decide what action to take and will help write up an improvement plan, which will be submitted to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services by Dec. 20, according to John Wyvill, director of the Division of Developmental Disabilities within the Health and Human Services Department.
The Pennsylvania-based company, which will be paid $39,500, also will provide suggestions on downsizing the institution and may make suggestions on dealing with the staffing shortage and improving training, according to Wyvill.
The firm expects to have two or three staff members at Beatrice through Dec. 22, he said. The contract ends Jan. 20.
In a November inspection, federal inspectors determined that BSDC did not meet four conditions: governing body and management, client protections, facility staffing and active treatment services, according to a news release.
In September 2006, BSDC failed all but one of the eight criteria. In a follow-up inspection in April 2007, Beatrice failed two conditions, according to Jeanne Atkinson, HHS spokeswoman.
HHS already has announced it will move some clients into local community programs during the next few years to deal with constant staff shortages.
HHS officials will meet quarterly with the Nebraska Advocacy Services, which recently released a report critical of the Beatrice institution.
Reach Nancy Hicks at 473-7250 or nhicks@journalstar.com.