Cyndi Lauper and George Orwell Were Right

 (I recently decided to use the 300 words the local paper gives to a letter to the Editor to express SOME of the issues that are ruining health care, to do a thorough job, I would need 3,000 words.)

Turns out, "Money changes everything." and "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others." are both very true statements in the current health care environment.  I put in 25 years at a Garrett County nursing home and these are some observations. When I started at the nursing home there were three nurses in nursing administration and one very hard working secretary. On my last day there, we had a new secretary who had an assistant, but the nursing administration had grown to eight RN's plus two RN supervisors who split the coverage on night shift.  Money is the reason all these positions were added. The reimbursement process to get the $120,000 per year necessary to take care of one person (you read that right) is complicated and daunting.  The GNA's and nurses who work the floor, who actually take care of the residents, while administration is secluded in their offices, are required to do more and more data entry every year.  They are required to make four to six entries on each resident about their ability to walk even if the person has not taken a step in years. That is just one example of the load that is being placed on the front line workers, a load which means there is less time to give hands on care to the residents. The eight nursing administration people and the six people in office administration are not giving care to anyone.  The people who are more equal are the RN supervisors. Their behavior can include gossip, spreading rumors and bullying, but because they are supervisors they are more equal than the rest of us.  The whole situation is sad and many very good workers are leaving.  Chuck Bean Markleysburg, PA