Code Blue for Borman Hall?
"Borman is not
too old to fix.
I am fairly
optimistic it
will not close.
A lot of people
are working
very hard to
tackle a series
of problems in
a short time."
Dr. Richard Yeriam
A woman cleans the second floor.
is not the problem. At
risk is quality of patient
care and quality of life.
Ever since citations
were first handed down
in August, nursing home
fast-track specialists,
headed by Markey Butler
of Ann Arbor, have been
working around-the-
clock to prepare Borman
for final inspection.
"We're there. It'll
work," said Ms. Butler,
known in health circles
as a leader in expediting
corrections of health
code violations. "Are we
perfect? Hell no. Do we
have a long way to go?
Harry Weinsaft with staffer Judy Barnes.
Yes."
When she arrived at
Borman, Ms. Butler was
not certain her skills
would work for her as
quickly as necessary.
"Everything here was
wrong. That is what I
told the board. Even the
pipes were leaking," she
said. "I then agreed to
spend two days on site
and write a plan of cor-
rection."
Ever since, she has
been working 14 to 18
hours every day. The
work is challenging:
Cleaning; repairing
structural damage; in-
service staff training;
hiring; meetings; firings;
meetings; motivating;
new medical staff; meet-
ings; correcting decades-
old problems.
She is optimistic. Staff
is cooperative. Federa-
tion is working with
them. Clean-up is right
on schedule. She would
be surprised if Borman
failed inspection.
Costs for the quick-fix
are hefty, estimated at
$1 million. So far, the
only logical source of rev-
enue is the general
reserve fund of the
United Jewish Founda-
tion of United Jewish
Charities.
While the board of
UJC has been briefed on
this situation, members
haven't yet approved the
expenditure. No one
interviewed wanted to
discuss options if funds
are not approved. The
matter is pending results
of state inspection.
Borman Hall is not the
only nursing home in
Michigan to come so
close to losing its govern-
ment assistance.
Michigan health offi-
cials rarely close nurs-
ing homes. Instead, the
state has instituted a
mechanism that allows
facilities with violations
to correct the deficien-
cies.
"Our goal is not to
close any nursing home,"
said Dr. Richard Yeriam,
the state's Department
of Public Health chief
medical consultant. "Our
intent is to insure that
patients are getting care.
At Borman, they are
trying to correct their
violations."
Just one of the 25
nursing homes cited by
the state this year actu-
ally closed. Dr. Yeriam