A shortage of surveyors is hindering inspections in OK.

Health inspectors needed

Oklahoma’s 356 nursing homes are inspected more often and more diligently, but state Health Department oversight is hampered by a severe shortage of surveyors, authorities said Thursday.
“We’ve made so much progress; let’s not slip back,” said Ron Osterhout, a state Board of Health member from Altus.

It was Osterhout who in 2000 called attention to nursing home troubles that turned into a statewide scandal.

Now, five years later, significant improvements have been made in the supervision of Oklahoma nursing home, which house 22,000 residents, officials said Thursday.

Health Board members indicated agency inspectors are finding more deficiencies.

An Oklahoma nursing homes has a general recertification inspection every 12.9 months, compared with every 22 months in 2001, health authorities said.

Complaint inspections are more frequent, said Dorya Huser, Health Department chief of long-term care.

Huser said 98 percent of complaints claiming residents are in immediate danger are investigated by the Health Department within two days.

In 2001, only 14 percent of such complaints were worked by the agency in two days.

Current data indicates Health Department inspectors are doing a better job now than in the past, according to Dr. Gordon Deckert, health board member from Oklahoma City.

However, the health agency has a dire need for new inspectors, officials said. It has 74, but Huser said 100 are needed.

Burnout, retirement and job dissatisfaction have prompted a sizable turnover, Huser told Board of Health members Thursday in Oklahoma City.

After a lengthy budget freeze, hiring of inspectors will begin after Jan. 1, 2006, Huser said.

About a year of training is required. The starting salary is $42,000 a year.