NURSING HOMES: Columnist Warns Davis to Address Crisis
In yesterday's Los Angeles Times, California Journal senior editor Sigrid Bathen argues Gov. Gray Davis' famed propensity for micromanagement and "relentless" emphasis on education is failing to address a burgeoning crisis in the state's nursing homes. Bathen writes that a "highly critical" GAO report on facilities in the state "must have a deja vu quality for Davis," who was forced to deal with similar "media and administrative messes in health care created by his unfocused boss," former Gov. Jerry Brown. "It may well be Davis' memory of those years that infuses his achingly deliberate pace, but his caution could blow up in his face," Bathen writes. She concedes that there are some positive signs Davis will address the nursing home crisis -- namely the appointment of Grantland Johnson as health and human services administrator. Bathen concludes, warning the "last thing elder-care reform needs is a 'methodical' approach, which generally ... means it will take a lot of time -- a luxury Davis does not have" (3/7).
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