Hello from St. Paul,
The ongoing mess at the Department of Human Services shows no signs of slowing down
Besides the tens of millions of dollars that have already been wasted or misappropriated, and the employees who have been fired, mistreated, or retaliated against for raising concerns, comes the latest news that the agency wants local governments to pay for its costly mistakes.
Though all Minnesota counties are going to have to pay significant dollars, this week KTTC-TV found eleven counties in Southern Minnesota that have received a bill for nearly $1 MILLION from DHS stemming from the mismanagement of funds for substance use disorder treatment.
You can watch the story here.
I don’t think its right that counties - and thus our local taxpayers - should have to pay the price for a state agency’s errors. This is a lot of money for counties to have to come up with, especially when they are already financially strapped with their own financial commitments, such as roads and bridges. DHS needs to be accountable for this mismanagement. I call on the Governor to come to the table and be involved in this as well, as he is the one who oversees these agencies. Our counties and local taxpayers should not have to pay for mistakes they didn’t make.
ALBERT LEA RURAL HEALTH CARE ROUNDTABLE A SUCCESS
The rural health care roundtable in Albert Lea was well attended last evening and very informative. Thank you to all those who attended (about 80 people) for the many good questions asked and to those who watched online.
A special thank you to these panelists who traveled long distances to be a part of this roundtable: Zora Radosevich, Office of Rural Health and Primary Care Director, Minnesota Department of Health; Mark Jones, Minnesota Rural Health Care Association Director; Tony Spector, Minnesota Emergency Medical Services Regulatory Board Executive Director; Holly Jacobs EMS Specialist - Southeast Region Minnesota Emergency Medical Services Regulatory Board; and Matt Anderson Minnesota Hospital Association Interim president and CEO.
I’d like to recognize them, as I think they each really went above and beyond in traveling to Albert Lea for this. One of them drove all the way from his home which is just a half mile from the Canadian border. Pretty nice!
Click here and here if you’d like to watch.
OUT AND ABOUT
Not long ago I had the opportunity to walk through the cardboard mockup of the upcoming MercyOne clinic in Albert Lea. I was very impressed with what this is going to be!
I also found the whole concept of building out the clinic in cardboard very interesting. It really makes a lot of sense. Teams of MercyOne employees from the actual departments built each cardboard area according to their needs and those of their patients. Then they had walkthroughs and simulations to determine if the layout would work. They could move walls and change sizes and layouts as needed. What a great idea to do this before getting into the expensive building process!
I also was able to attend an amazing lutefisk dinner at the Emmons Lutheran Church recently!
I enjoyed spending time with these wonderful people for the meal. Fun times!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
With the holiday almost here, I want to wish you a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving. Hopefully you will be able to celebrate with family or friends.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Peggy