Tag Archives for Roberta Hawkins

Real Heroes Need to Be Recognized   

Published in Pawtucket Times on November 3, 2003

Sometimes the actions of real heroes are not reported by newspapers, radio or television newscasts. While stories of poor care and abuse in the state’s nursing facilities quickly make headline news in local media outlets, the good deeds oftentimes go unreported.

Here’s a story about a fire in an East-Providence independent living facility that made the local news one evening in October, but the real story was left untold.

Although the Rhode Island Chapter of the Red Cross ultimately go the ink for being on the scene, there were others – nursing facility administrators, firefighters, police officers and the Alliance for Better Long-Term Care – who also came to the assistance of the elderly tenants that fall night.

On Friday, Oct. 3, a boiler fire at Taunton Plaza forced 117 elderly and handicapped residents from their heated apartments into the chilly night. The elderly tenants residing in this independent living facility  were ultimately not allowed to return until Monday, because of a power outage, smoke damage and concerns regarding environmental contamination by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

Although the Santa Maria Club, on Broadway, offered a brief respite from the cool fall weather that evening, these residents needed overnight accommodations because they could not immediately return to their apartments. For that weekend, the majority of the elderly tenants went to the homes of family and friends, while others slept on cots at a temporary shelter site.

Roberta Hawkins, state ombudsman and executive director of the Alliance for Better Long-Term Care, remembered getting a phone call while watching a local television newscast about the fire.

“We really could use your help,” the Red Cross official said, asking her to immediately come to East Providence.

Ultimately, Hawkins and Kathy Heren, her agency’s staff nurse, quickly arrived at the Portuguese club and got down to the business of interviewing residents to learn about their medications, special needs and current health status. Some of the displaced elderly tenants were diabetic on insulin, while others were taking high blood pressure and heart medications.

Nursing home administrators, along with their directors of nursing, were also summoned to the fire site after receiving phone calls from Hawkins and Heren. These facilities would ultimately provide free accommodations for 18 elderly tenants whose health status required medical care  monitoring until they could return to their apartments.

Meanwhile, with information provided by Hawkins and Heren, East Providence firefighters and police officials entered smoke-filled apartments to retrieve prescription drugs. “Some of these seniors need to take their medications at the time of the fire,” said Hawkins.

Responding to a visibly shaken woman, an East Providence policeman even went into a smoke-filled apartment to rescue her cockatoo, a pet that might have died from smoke inhalation.

“The sobbing woman was so grateful that one would have thought the policeman had just rescued her child,” Hawkins said.

Administrator Orlando Bisbano Jr., of Orchard View Manor, came to Taunton Plaza that night of the fire with his director of nursing. He ultimately would take seven elderly tenants  back to his East Providence-based facility.

“We were willing to help in any way we could,” said Bisbano, noting the uncompensated care his facility provided totaled $ 2,300.

According to Bisbano, nursing assistants with wheelchairs were positioned outside Orchard  View Manor for more than a half an hour in the chilly night after the fire, waiting for the arrival of the traumatized elderly tenants.

“We called staff back to the facility who would later help to get them settled down and ready for bed,” he said. Management staff even came back to the facility to process the necessary paperwork that included a list of the new admission’s medications.

Ultimately, administrator Donna Amaral, of Eastgate Nursing and Recovery Center, along with administrators from Waterview Villa Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and Hattie Ide Chaffee Home, responded to Hawkins pleas for help for facilities to temporarily admit the displaced elder tenants.

“This was the first time in my 22 years as an administrator that I opened up my facility to help out in a crisis,” Amaral told All About Seniors, estimating  her East Providence-based facility provided at least $ 2,500 in free care, food and lodging, to six elderly residents.

Besides getting the residents fed and ready for bed, Amaral stressed how her staff had to locate medications for one of her unanticipated guests. One of her newly admitted tenants came without his insulin, and she quickly made arrangements with a local pharmacy for replacement insulin.

Hawkins recounted one elderly man was ultimately too confused to return to his apartment at Taunton Plaza and was late admitted to Amaral’s facility, Eastgate Nursing and Recovery Center.

Upon arriving with no shoes or jacket, Jack Heren, the facility’s food manager, took off his brand-new  sports jacket and gave it to a shivering man. “He sept wearing his new jacket that first night,” said Hawkins, who noted the man treasures the gifted jacket and has not taken it off since his admission to the facility.

Although the R.I. Red Cross and Picerne Management Group, the owners of Taunton Plaza, along with some of the elderly tenants and their families thanked the Alliance and nursing facilities for their assistance, local media did not report the acts of kindness.


It is disappointment the local press did not recognize the local nursing facilities were there and ready to take all of the residents, if necessary,” said Bisbano. “While it ultimately does not matter that we weren’t recognized, nursing facilities are here to serve the community and are prepared to deal with disasters like that fire.”

Hugh Hall, president of the R.I. Health Care Association, a trade group representing a majority of the state’s nursing facilities, added, “I don’t think that there is much positive news in general as we would like to see including positive articles about nursing facilities.

“When this type of crisis [fire] happens, the long-term care community rises to the occasion, to assist, and always will,” says Hall.

Hawkins weighted in on the issue of positive news coverage of nursing facilities, too.

“While local television stations covered this fire, they never really identified the real heroes, that is the nursing facilities, the police and firefighters, who in times of disaster help people they don’t even know,” she said.

“Couples fall in love and even get married in facilities with the assistance of staff. Nursing assistants oftentimes become family to residents, comforting them when they are sad, frightened or dying. We hardly read about these good deeds either,” said Hawkins.

For this columnist, hats off to the East Providence police and firefighters, the nursing facilities and their dedicated staff who briefly provided quality of care for the displaced traumatized elderly tenants and to the Alliance for Better Long-Term Care. Positive news and acts of kindness will be reported and real heroes recognized in this column.

Alliance for Better Long-Term Care Celebrates 25th Anniversary

Published in Pawtucket Times on October 20, 2003

Next Friday, nursing home advocates, state officials, residents and their families and friends along with long-term care providers are invited to North Kingston to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Alliance for Better Long-Term Care.

With its emergence on the advocacy scene in 1988, the Alliance for Better Home Care (later renamed the Alliance for Better Long-Term Care) has effectively defended the rights o those who can no longer speak for themselves – the elderly who receive care in the state’s nursing homes. Later in the late 1990s, the nonprofit group expanded its advocacy role into the assisted living, home care and hospice sectors. (This would result in the above-mentioned organizational name change).

Back in 1986, a thirty-something Roberta Hawkins had just raised her two daughters, Robin and Cindy. The former facility worker with 15 years’ experience under the belt working at Warwick-based Levitons Manufacturing Co., sought out a new career in human services.  Hawkins enrolled at Rhode Island College to become a  social worker.

At this time, she joined the federally funded program, Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) “to make a difference.”

Hawkins would later be assigned to assist low-income Rhode Islanders in applying for eligible federal and state benefits. However, poor nursing home care provided at the Rhode Island Nursing Home in Providence would later lead to refocusing of the nonprofit group’s mission, one that would aim to protect the health and dignity of the Ocean State’s growing nursing home resident population.

With VISTA funds and small grants drying up at the beginning of the Reagan years, around 1888, Hawkins’ nonprofit group received funding from the Department of Elderly Affairs to refocus her group’s new advocacy role in the state. The Alliance for Better Nursing Home Care was born.

Hawkins, along with six fellow VISTA volunteers, would later form the staff of the newly created statewide, advocacy group.  Three years later, Hawkins would take over the helm of the group.  Three years later, Hawkins would take over the helm of the group. Ultimately, she would become the sole staffer, with an organizational budget of $ 8,000.  Volunteer staff, consisting mostly of family members of nursing home residents, would help Hawkins formulate advocacy strategy, recruit new members, write and disseminate a newsletter and organize fundraisers.

Twenty-five years later, Hawkins Alliance for Long-Term Care has an operating budget of $ 770,000 with a staff of 14 people and a core group of 40 volunteers.  Several years ago, the Department of Elderly Affairs (DEA) out-sourced ombudsman duties to this non-profit group.

Since its inception, the Alliance for Better Long-Term Care has assisted families in both understanding and choosing the most appropriate care setting to place their loved ones, said Hawkins, in a multiple of care settings – from assisted-living nursing homes or to their own homes, through the provision of home care services.

As the state’s official ombudsman agency, Hawkins and her staff work to educate family members and residents of their state and federal rights.  Care complaints are investigated a resolution mediated between residents and the long-term care providers.

As an advocate, Hawkins testifies on behalf of nursing home residents at legislative and regulatory hearings.

Where does Hawkins go from here?

Hawkins said she looks forward to making  bigger changes in the Ocean State’s long-term care delivery system.

“When delivering services, state agencies sometimes cut people off from the services when they reach a certain age,” like rehabilitation and mental health services, she said.  “That’s totally inappropriate,” she adds.

Hawkins also told All About Seniors she will continue to work toward “putting the home back into nursing homes.” The facility must truly become are a resident’s home, she urged.

Rhode Island’s most visible nursing home advocate also wants to see facility staff adequately paid for the valuable work they perform.

“We must get rid of the staff that do not care about providing good care to the elderly and keep those who really do, by paying them livable wages and providing a good working atmosphere,” she said.

Hawkins has gained the respect of a wide variety of state officials, aging advocates and providers in her 25 years of advocacy.

Lt. Gov. Charles Fogarty, who worked with Hawkins when he was a state senator and as chair of the state’s Long Term Care Coordinating Council (LTCCC), said Rhode Island is fortunate to have such a dedicated and committed advocate.

“We all sleep better at night knowing that she is there for us to advocate on behalf of the thousands of frail and vulnerable elderly in long-term care settings,” he said.

Lucille Massemino, administrator of Charlesgate Nursing Center, a Providence-based 160-bed skilled nursing facility and a former m ember of its board of directors, said she sees Hawkins as a passionate advocate pushing for the quality of life of nursing home residents.

“She is very assertive with administrators, knowing the needs of residents and prodding facilities towards fulfilling those needs,” she said.

Meanwhile, Hugh Hall, president of the Rhode Island Health Care Association has seen Hawkins in action over the past 18 years, working tirelessly for the improvement of Rhode Island’s long-term care services.

“She has lobbied the state legislature for better care in nursing homes [urging lawmakers to pay facilities an adequate reimbursement rate and calling for the state to address a nurse staffing shortage],” he said.

Hawkins said she plans to stay around as long as she is effective and as long as her passion to fight for nursing home residents remains. For the sake of the tens of thousands of Ocean State seniors and young disabled people who need long-term care services, hopefully we’ll see her around advocating on their behalf for a long time to come.

Internet will soon be good source for information on nursing homes

Published in The Pawtucket Times, May 2003

A growing number of Americans are doing their shopping for products and services, via the Internet.  But if the federal government has its way consumers in five states will rely on Medicare and Medicaid programs and their family members, will be able to cruise the world wide web to find the best nursing facilities to meet their specific needs.

Rhode Island is among five states chosen by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for a pilot project that will identify collect, and publish nursing home quality information on the Internet for easy access and comparison of facilities.

The other states are Colorado, Maryland, Ohio and Washington.  Eventually, this federally-funded initiative will be expanded nationwide.

People covered by Medicare and Medicaid have the power to choose the best care to meet their individual needs, but they have to have more reliable information to choose quality care, HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson, who oversees the Medicare and Medicaid programs. “Our efforts will help beneficiaries all across the country to compare the performance of their local nursing homes, and will provide the recognition that high-quality nursing homes deserve”.

In April 2002, the newly compiled performance information becomes available online at www.medicare.gov and will also be disseminated through Rhode Island Quality Partners, an agency contracted by the federal government to oversee the quality of health services provided to Rhode Island Medicare beneficiaries.

So what information can consumers find when shopping for the right nursing facility on the world wide web?

Currently, the CMS’s website provides nursing facility-specific information compiled from state annual surveys.

As a result of this five state pilot project, consumers will be able to see data culled from the Minimum Data Set (MDS), a standardized medical collection form that every nursing home is required to complete on every patient upon admission and on a regular schedule thereafter.

For those seeking a long-term placement, CMS will bring together comparative state-wide information that indicates quality care is being provided.  When shopping you will be able to find out how many residents are being physically restrained, how many have pressure sores, how many are taking anti-psychotic drugs without a psychiatric diagnosis, how many have lost weight, how many have acquired an infection, and finally how many residents can no longer take care of themselves.

For those seeking short-term stays after hospitalization, CMS will provide state-wide MDS data compiled from nursing facilities that can tell you how many residents are in pain, how many residents fail to recover from delirium, along with how many are re-hospitalized and improvement in walking.

Dr. David R. Gifford, principal clinical coordinator with Rhode Island Quality Partners, told All About Seniors that CMS chose Rhode Island for the pilot project because of the state’s interest in public reporting of consumer information.  He noted that CMS was aware of Lt. Gov. Charles Fogerty’s legislation, recently enacted that now requires reporting of nursing facility quality information.

“We’re very pleased to be involved in the pilot project because it allows us to help shape the national data dissemination effort,” Gifford adds.

How will consumers not computer savvy gain access CMS’s new quality measures?

Dr. Gifford notes that each state participating in the pilot project must develop other avenues for non-computer users to tap into the MDS data compiled on its website.

Roberta Hawkins, Executive Director of the Alliance for Better Long Term Care and the state’s ombudsman, applauds the new federal effort to help consumers in choosing nursing facilities.

However, Hawkins is concerned that the MDS does not always provide “insight into the personality of a nursing facility.”

“MDS won’t tell you if a facility’s staff are compassionate to residents.”  she says.  Additionally, the newly compiled CMSA information will not provide you with specifics about how some facilities specialize in taking care of ethnic populations.”  she added, specifically, if staff speak a foreign language, sever ethnic cuisine, or plan culturally-related activity programming.

Additionally, Hawkins notes that while CMS’s website may tell you how many persons have bed sores, a higher incidence of bed sores may only reflect that a newly admitted resident came to the facility with bed sores or that a facility specializes in taking care of that medical condition.

At best, internet information can only provide a snapshot of care being provided by facility staff, warns Hawkins.  “Today’s best nursing homes may become next weeks providers of poor care,” she adds, when key staff in leadership positions leave the facility.

Take advantage of CMS’s website to cull nursing facility specific information compiled from state annual surveys.

When in doubt, call the Alliance for Better Long-Term Care at 785-3340.