Valley View Home Fights The Good Fight In Helena

Valley View Home’s administrator Wes Thompson has been making trips back and forth to Helena in order to be a part of the current legislative session and express the need to raise Medicaid rates in order to continue to keep the same level of patient care residents deserve and keep Valley View Home’s door open for the community. “Wes is forever going to bat for us. He is going to bat with the state legislature,” stated Staff Development Coordinator Brianna Leader.

In initial votes on Feb. 16 by the legislative subcommittee, Medicaid providers will see bigger rates in Medicaid reimbursement than Governor Gianforte’s administration recently proposed, however it will still be short by an estimated $49 million for the biennium. Adjustments to provider rates have been a hot topic during this legislative session due to 10 nursing homes in Montana closing over the past year, as a result of inadequate funding. Also, multiple studies have shown that Montana needs to increase its reimbursement rates or be at risk of being unable to provide services, which Valley View Home is seeing now as a result of the lack of available workforce for staff, CNAs in particular.

“We are in need of CNAs, and because of the lack of work force, we are needing to hire contract nurses, which are expensive for our facility. A lot of the current staff, who are certified, are picking up additional hours to help. We welcome anyone who wants to become a CNA. They will get hired on as a utility aid and then we can put them through the CNA training,” stated Leader. “Though we are all working hard, every resident that comes in raves about our facility, about the care they receive. We are proud of what we are able to offer to the community.”

As a way to recognize employees who work hard for the Home and the residents in their care, Leader has been highlighting employee anniversaries on the Home’s Facebook page. Leader has also been working with Richard Noble of Want For Tech to obtain video footage of interview from staff and residents regarding what it means for residents to live there and to better inform the community of the crisis currently going on in long-term care facilities. “We are trying to be as transparent as possible,” stated Leader.

Though the Home has been battling for funding and workers, Valley View continues to give back to the community that has served them well over the years. They were recently the host for the Lukes 100 annual dinner and membership meeting on Feb. 14, which in addition to being the host of the event, the Home’s dining provided a meal of brisket, small potatoes and asparagus, shrimp cocktail with Cesar salad, and a choice of tiramisu and chocolate cake. “The event went really well,” stated Leader. Lukes 100 is a charitable organization whose members pledge to pay $100 per year to assist, promote and support the medical facilities in Valley County, which includes Valley View Home and the Valley View Home Foundation.

In addition to opening up their doors to thank the organization and members for their assistance over the years, Leader explained the Home has received a huge amount of community support, especially during the holidays. “During the Christmas season, we had carolers come, including Girl Scout Troop 2280, Lustre School, as well as members from St. Raphael and Assembly of God,” she explained. “We had our resident Christmas Party on Dec. 22 where the community provided gifts from the giving tree that was in Blend 10, and Kim Redstone along with Shannon Marsh raised funds to donate self care items such as fancy socks, hot chocolate bombs, foot treatment lotion and a Christmas Card.” The staff was also able to hold a holiday party on Jan. 7, at El Cor Del Lanes in Glasgow, to celebrate with each other while also allowing the administration to provide a thank you for the hard work of the staff over the past year.

To assist with the community’s designation as a Cardiac Ready Community, Valley View Home is also offering community CPR courses, with the hope the class can be offered on a quarterly basis if there is enough interest. The first course of the year is being offered on Feb. 27, from 1 to 4 p.m., in the Home’s conference room. Though there is a cost to attend, Leader is excited to be able to get more in the community trained on this life-saving technique. To register, contact the Home at 228-2461.