(Radio Iowa) – A bill that’s cleared the Iowa House would require state inspectors to conduct twice-a-year training sessions for Iowa nursing home staff to review the most common citations issued against nursing homes. The bill also changes the timelines for when inspectors from DIAL — the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing — conduct site visits to review operations or investigate complaints. Representative Tom Moore, a Republican from Griswold, says the bill addresses some of the concerns that have been raised about Iowa nursing homes.

Rep. Thomas Jay Moore (R-Griswold) (official photo)

Representative Megan Srinivas (SREE-nih-vahss), a Democrat from Des Moines, says the state needs to hire more nursing home inspectors — and quit paying private companies to investigate complaints. “I think we’re all in agreement here that our nursing homes are in trouble, that we need to do something to fix the disasters that we’ve been seeing happen throughout our state. Unfortunately this bill does not solve the problem sufficiently,” Srinivas said.

The bill passed on an 87-to-eight vote earlier this week. It’s been referred to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee for consideration.