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their buildings. She also spoke about the need far legislation on personal care allowance. She said that the <br />costs should be tied to cost of living increases. <br />Ruth Monnig made reference to some research that has been conducted with a team of nurses with <br />regard to the issue of malnutrition and dehydration in nursing homes. She said that the research has shown <br />that a high proportion (40-75°~) of residents in nursing homes are malnourished andlor dehydrated. She <br />said that 25-50°~ of the deaths of elders in nursing homes are preventable. This is all related to inadequate <br />staffing. <br />V. Questions and Discussion <br />Representative Verla Insko, Chair of the House Aging Study committee, said that the legislation <br />coming through the committee this year had to do with DSS. She said that there might be new legislation to <br />talk about reorganization within the department. A group had been hired to review Medicaid and <br />reimbursement rates. The committee hopes to have a bill to allow money to be spent on adult care homes. <br />Representative Joe Hackney said that he was pleased to listen to the comments and learn about the <br />issues and concerns. <br />Senator Ellie Kinnaird said that people tell her horror story after horror story about nursing homes. <br />She said that she wrote a bill to change the staffing ratio. The adult care industry discovered it in the <br />budget and they were able to pull it out of the budget. She said that the power of the industry was so great. <br />Services have been cut throughout the state and people are really hurting. She said that the bottom line <br />was that no one wants to raise taxes. She encouraged people to send letters to legislators, press, and <br />facilities management. <br />John Link said that he has a loved one in a nursing home and that all of the issues raised are <br />important. He said that it seemed that it was a question of how to get the staff to pay attention to the <br />patients. There could be tax credits to family members to have an additional staff person ar a caretaker in <br />the patient's home. Commissioner Gordon agreed that staff attention to residents was crucial. <br />Ms. Speaker talked about someone from a nursing home that came into the geriatric clinic over the <br />weekend and had two bedsores to the bone. She spoke about how malnourished the patient was. <br />Commissioner Brown thanked everyone for coming to the meeting. This 5:30 meeting was adjourned. <br />The 7:30 Board of County Commissioners' regular meeting was held following the conclusion of this <br />meeting in the Boardroom of the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. <br />Stephen Halkiotis, Chair <br />Beverly A. Blythe, CMC <br />