PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — A Senate committee endorsed a plan Wednesday to build a nursing home on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation after the measure's sponsor said elderly tribal members now must move to nursing homes far from their families.
South Dakota has had a ban on new nursing homes for more than 20 years, but the bill would grant an exception to allow construction of a nursing home on the reservation in the southwestern part of the state.
Sen. Jim Bradford, R-Pine Ridge, said most reservation residents who go to nursing homes wind up in Rapid City, which is more than 100 miles from the village of Pine Ridge. Others are in smaller towns that also are far from the reservation, and relatives have trouble visiting patients in such distant places, he said.
"What we're trying to do is be allowed to build a facility that would bring our family members home," Bradford said.
Similar proposals have been rejected repeatedly in the past 12 years after state officials argued a new nursing home would increase state spending on Medicaid, which pays the bills for most nursing home residents. No one testified against the bill Wednesday.
The Health Committee voted unanimously to send the measure to the full Senate.
Bradford said state officials in the past objected to building a nursing home in Pine Ridge because other facilities around the state had vacancies. Nursing homes in the region now are full and have waiting lists of elderly seeking to get in, he said.
Sen. Tom Hansen, R-Huron, said a new nursing home in Pine Ridge could open up beds for residents in those areas who are now on waiting lists. The time has come to give Pine Ridge a chance to have a nursing home, he said.
Bradford said the bill makes it clear that the state can't spend money to build the nursing home, but it would qualify for Medicaid funding. The state pays about a third of the cost of Medicaid, while the federal government pays the other two-thirds.
The Oglala Sioux Tribe has not yet identified how it will pay to build the nursing home, but it might be able to use federal stimulus funds or money from its casino, Bradford said.
The bill's provisions would expire on June 30, 2012, giving the tribe a couple of years to build a nursing home.
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