MINUTES
SENATE INTERIM COMMITTEE ON HOME HEALTH
AND ASSISTED LIVING FACILITIES
Tuesday, January 27, 1998
9:30 am
Fort Worth Botanic Garden, Fort Worth, Texas
*****
Pursuant to a notice posted in accordance with Senate Rule
11.11, a public hearing of the Senate Interim Committee on
Home Health and Assisted Living Facilities was held on
Tuesday, January 27, 1998 in Fort Worth Botanic Garden, Fort
Worth, Texas.
*****
MEMBERS PRESENT: MEMBERS ABSENT:
Senator Mike Moncrief Senator Gonzalo
Barrientos
Senator Drew Nixon Senator Mario
Gallegos, Jr.
Senator Jane Nelson
*****
The Chair called the meeting to order at 9:35 a.m. The
following business was transacted.
The following members arrived after the roll was called:
none.
The Chair introduced and welcomed Fort Worth Representatives
Lon Burnam, District 90, and Bill G. Carter, District 9, and
Council Member, Lois G. Finkelman, City of Dallas, as guests.
The Chair made opening remarks, welcomed invited speakers,
state agency staff and the public. The Chair announced that
the purpose of the hearing was to receive testimony from
Tarrant County area organizations and families regarding the
Committee's charges and to review the survey and complaint
process of personal care facilities and home and community
support services agencies.
The Chair then called the following persons who provided oral
testimony on personal care facilities and home health care:
Lois Finkelman, Dallas City Council, Dallas
Lee S. Anderson, M. D., Tarrant County Medical Society,
Fort Worth
The Chair thanked Ms. Finkelman and Dr. Anderson for
testifying.
The Chair then called a panel to testify about Tarrant County
perspectives regarding the Committee's charges. The panel
members were:
Pat Cheong, Director, Area Agency on Aging of Tarrant
County, Fort Worth
Thomas J. Fairchild, Ph. D., Director of Special Projects
on Aging, University of North
Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth
Lauralee Harris, Executive Director, Mental Health
Association of Tarrant County, Fort
Worth
Terry Thompson, Long Term Care Ombudsman, Fort Worth
Carlela K. Vogel, Member, Texas Board of Human Services,
Fort Worth
The panel testified and responded to questions from Members of
the Committee. The Chair thanked and dismissed the panel.
The Chair then called a panel to testify about the assisted
living survey and complaint process. The panel members were:
Mary Ann Brown, Resident of an assisted living facility,
Fort Worth
Randy Griffin, President, Legacy Living Centers, Plano
Bill Jann, Resident, Fort Worth
Beverly McCalmont, Adult Protective Services Supervisor,
Texas Department of Protective
and Regulatory Services, Fort Worth
Mike Williams, Generalist Surveyor, Texas Department of
Human Services, Fort Worth
The following persons were called by the Chair to respond to
questions from Committee Members
about the assisted living survey and complaint process:
Marc Gold, Manager, Long Term Care Policy, Texas
Department of Human Services, Austin
Chris Harper, Licensing Section Manager, Texas Department
of Human Services, Austin
The panel testified and responded to questions from Members of
the Committee. The Chair thanked and dismissed the panel.
The Chair then called a panel to testify about home health
care's survey and complaint process.
The panel members were:
Debbie Hodson, Nurse Surveyor, Texas Department of
Health, Arlington
Hilda T. Ramsay, Family Member, Sherman
Emily Tripp, Vice President of Home Care, Visiting Nurse
Association of Texas, Dallas
The panel testified and responded to questions from Members of
the Committee. The Chair thanked and dismissed the panel.
The Chair recessed at 1:20 P. M.
The Chair reconvened the hearing at 2:02 P. M.
The Chair then called for public testimony. The following
persons provided oral testimony:
Allan Cole, Self, Fort Worth, Texas
Jim Roane, Disabled Community, Fort Worth, Texas
David Ivan Perry, Self, Dallas, Texas
Debra A. Green, Texas Department of Human Services,
Austin, Texas
Bruce Wilke, Self, Dallas, Texas
Sue Collins, Health Cor, Colleyville, Texas
Al Germann, Greenbriar Corporation at Denison, Denison,
Texas
Debi Laurents, Living At Home/Block Nurse Program, Fort
Worth, Texas
Linda Thompson, Self, Watauga, Texas
Michael G. Rich, Grandparents, Arlington, Texas
Martha E. Kissinger, League of Women Voters of Tarrant
County, Fort Worth, Texas
Monica Prather, United Cerebral Palsy of Tarrant County,
Fort Worth, Texas
David L. Griffith, Client of Home Health, Fort Worth,
Texas
Sid Rich, Texas Association of Residential Care
Communities, Austin, Texas
Mary Teeters, Meals on Wheels, Inc. of Tarrant County,
Fort Worth, Texas
Cindy Reynolds, Clients in Need, Fort Worth, Texas
Johnnie Benson, Colonial Southwest, Inc. and Westchester
Health Systems, Fort Worth, Texas
Dr. Barbara Kirsch, Ph. D., National Mental Health
Institute on Deafness, Euless, Texas
Thomas Price, Self, Fort Worth, Texas
Jerry Large, Consumer, Fort Worth, Texas
Donna Grzann Helmer, Elderly, Fort Worth, Texas
Florence Nagy, Self, Fort Worth, Texas
LaTonne Stout, Deaf, Inc., Fort Worth, Texas
Cathy J. Torres, Westchester Health Systems/Social
Worker, Fort Worth, Texas
Mildred Hogstel, Self, Fort Worth, Texas
Velma Wayland, Sister, Fort Worth, Texas
John Bryant, Self, Fort Worth, Texas
Linda Waddle-Bradford, Alzheimer's and Garden Terrace
Alzheimer's Center, Fort Worth,
Texas
Steve Wadsworth, Centratex, Inc., Brady, Texas
Bob Rice, Centratex, Inc., Brady, Texas
Gary Humbercon, Centratex, Inc., Brady, Texas
Mary Alice Young, Self
Rosemary Cox, Self, Fort Worth, Texas
Vickie Patterson, Occupational Therapy Practitioners,
Duncanville, Texas
Colleen Colton, Senior Citizens Services/Tarrant Area
Gerontological Society, Fort Worth, Texas
Albert L. Diano, III, Self, Disabled Texan, Fort Worth,
Texas
Brenda Seawell, Disability Services of the Southwest,
Fort Worth, Texas
Jerry Hines, Disability Services of the Southwest, Fort
Worth, Texas
Anthony K. Cutrona, Self, Houston, Texas
Sandralyn Hampton, Home Health Care, Osteopathic Medical
Center, Fort Worth, Texas
Dan Gadbury, CLASS Participant, Haltom City, Texas
Kathy Maxey, Texas Association for Home Care, Austin,
Texas
At 6:26 P. M. Senator Nixon assumed the chair.
The following persons registered, and though called by the
Chair, did not testify:
Joseph Vance, National Guest Homes, Nashville, Tennessee
DeDe Chappell, R.N., Chappell Home Health Consulting/
Classic Care Home Health, Arlington, Texas
Sharon Atchison, Chappell Home Health Consulting,
Arlington, Texas
Nickie Allen, Windsor House, Weatherford, Texas
Heather Vasek, Texas Association for Home Care, Austin,
Texas
Roxann Martin, Private Nurses Using CCP, Azle, Texas
Les Siter, Harris Methodist Health System-Home Care, Fort
Worth, Texas
S. Wayne Bazzle, Health Cor Holdings, Inc., Dallas, Texas
Lisa Staples-Wherry, Ariel Nursing Service, Inc., Fort
Worth, Texas
Beverly Reher, Apex Home Health Care, Fort Worth, Texas
Jean Van Trump, Self, Fort Worth, Texas
Grumke, Charles, Kathy Grumke, Granbury, Texas
Chris Gerard, Home Care Association of Tarrant County,
Fort Worth, Texas
David Evans, The Covenant Group, Fort Worth, Texas
Wesley Anderson, AARP Chapter #14, Fort Worth, Texas
Ronald G. Ammons, Wise County Home Health, Inc.,
Bridgeport, Texas
Jerry B. Morris, Jr., Self, Fort Worth, Texas
Vernon V. Edwards, Community Volunteer, Fort Worth, Texas
Elsie Bradford, Super Citizen and Friends Group, Fort
Worth, Texas
Mazie Randle, AARP Chapter 5129, Fort Worth, Texas
Miriam Serrato, Metroplex Association of Residential Care
Homes, Arlington, Texas
Kathleen Miller, Self, Granbury, Texas
Clara Faulkner, President, Fort Worth Chapter, A. Philip
Randolph Institute Organization,
Fort Worth, Texas
Mrs. Evelyn Beaty, AARP, Fort Worth, Texas
Doris L. Brooks, Living At Home Block Nurse Program,
Volunteer Guardian Program,
AARP, Fort Worth, Texas
Geraldine K. Jezek, Self, Fort Worth, Texas
Kathy Leija, TORCH Healthcare-Morning Star, Lewisville,
Texas
Jim Collier, Self, Azle, Texas
Troy Eubank, Tarrant County Mental Health Mental
Retardation, Fort Worth, Texas
The following persons submitted written testimony:
Lynda Allanach, League of Women Voters of Tarrant County,
Fort Worth, Texas
Wesley Anderson, AARP Chapter 14, Fort Worth, Texas
Dave Evans, Vice President, The Covenant Group, Fort
Worth, Texas
Harold Gaspar, Self, Dallas, Texas
Chris Gerard, Home Care Association of Tarrant County,
Fort Worth, Texas
Sarah P. Jones, Ph. D., United Way of Metropolitan
Tarrant County, Fort Worth, Texas
Polly Orcutt, Self, Dallas, Texas
Jane Phelan, Self, Dallas, Texas
Irene Ramirez, Self, Dallas, Texas
Glenda Roberts, Self, Dallas, Texas
Bill Stevens, Self, Dallas, Texas
There being no further business, at 7:20 p.m., Senator Nixon
recessed the Committee subject to the call of the Chair.