Oregon DHS hires consultant to review oversight of long-term care providers in wake of recent NewsChannel 21 investigations

SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) -- A consultant has been hired and big changes could be coming to how the Oregon Department of Human Services oversees long-term care providers for seniors with disabilities.

The word comes in the wake of NewsChannel 21 Special Reports by Matthew Draxton, who investigated claims of deaths and mismanagement at two Central Oregon facilities, Juniper Canyon Living in Redmond and Aspen Ridge Memory Care.

Here's the full DHS announcement:

Consultant hired to evaluate regulatory oversight of long-term care providers
Oregon Dept. of Human Services - 12/17/24 1:25 PM

Salem, OR  ̶  The Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) hired consultant Alvarez and Marsal (A&M) to conduct an independent, external assessment of the agency’s unit that licenses and regulates long-term care providers serving older adults and people with disabilities. 

A&M was selected through a competitive Request for Proposal process. The external assessment will evaluate the unit’s current practices including whether it has adequate staff and resources to work with providers to ensure long-term care residents are safe and their needs are being met. The evaluation will identify potential improvements and will provide information on best practices that could be adopted to strengthen the unit’s work on behalf of Oregonians.  

“With the external assessment we will gain an independent perspective on our practices that will help us continue to improve and build upon our strengths,” said Nakeshia Knight-Coyle, Ph.D., Director of the ODHS Office of Aging and People with Disabilities (APD). “Evaluating how we do our work is essential to making our programs better and ensuring that all Oregonians have quality, safe options for long-term care in their communities.”

In addition to hiring an independent consultant, APD is doing short- and long-term strategic planning to improve how it protects the safety of older adults and people with disabilities in Oregon.

Recent safety initiatives include:

• Launch of a new webpage dedicated to information about long-term care facilities that have restrictions on new admissions due to compliance problems or are in programs requiring additional monitoring.
• In-person visits to facilities by APD’s executive leaders to see operations firsthand and speak with residents. Visits are made to three to five facilities each month and include facilities with poor regulatory compliance records along with those providing quality service. 
• Recruitment to fill nine new positions on the licensing inspection team. These jobs, which include compliance specialist positions and a supervisory role, will assess if a facility has sufficient staff to meet the needs of its current residents. Insufficient staff can lead to safety issues.
• Twice a week leadership huddles to review serious incidents that have occurred involving older adults and people with disabilities. Leaders share their evaluations to ensure an appropriate response including putting protections in place for residents if the incident occurred in a licensed facility.  

APD has also made a budget proposal for the 2025-2027 biennium, included in the Governor’s Recommended Budget, to add resources to its licensing and regulatory oversight unit. Nineteen additional positions are proposed. These additional positions will, among other things, provide more oversight for newly licensed providers to ensure residents needs are met and required safety protocols to protect people are being followed. 

"This investment will make it possible for us to be more proactive. We will be able to identify licensing concerns earlier which gives us an opportunity to step in and correct problems before they result in harm to people,” said Corissa Neufeldt, APD Deputy Director of Safety and Regulatory Oversight. “Additional resources are essential as the number of people relying on long-term care and the number of facilities licensed in Oregon continues to grow.”