Senator Jehlen Newsletter

 

Dear Neighbor, VACCINATION FRUSTRATION  Thanks to all of you who wrote back to tell me your own experiences trying to get vaccinations for people over 75.  Over 50 people wrote about their frustration and fury.  Some  have succeeded, mostly by getting invitations from a hospital for appointments that don't appear on the state's website.   I considered just copying all the emails into this newsletter, but that was very long.  I may share some in the future.   Legislators have had two meetings with Sec. Marylou Sudders, and I'm gathering more information, which changes daily, but I plan to share more background soon on the causes of the problem. MEDICAL PAROLE I invite you to join me tomorrow (Wednesday, Feb. 3) at 6 for this discussion of medical parole.  Many years ago, I started filing bills to allow dying and incapacitated people to be released to care by their family, a nursing home, or other facility.  I was particularly moved by a visit to Shirley Medium's Activities of Daily Living unit in 2011.   I saw a quadriplegic who could not sit up in bed, being cared for by a prisoner from another unit, as well as many others.  It was a nursing home, but much more expensive.   Medical parole was included in the criminal justice reform bill of 2018 but very few people have been released until this year.  Three men were recently "released" hours before they died of COVID. You can register here. THE FUTURE OF AGING Thanks to the Somerville Media Center, which recently hosted a discussion on what has been happening to older adults living in nursing facilities and in the community.  Joe Lynch and I were joined by Arlene Germaine, founder of Mass. Advocates for Nursing Home Reform and Medford resident, and Paul Hollings, executive director of Somerville Cambridge Elder Services and was a nursing home director for many years.  We talked about the past year's terrible experience of residents and staff in nursing homes, where 20% of the residents died, as well as the problem of isolation for both people in nursing homes and in the community.  Paul Hollings talked about the surge of volunteers who helped with huge growth in need for meal delivery, told us of many services SCES offers, and pointed out that people with similar health problems were 15 times more likely to die if they lived in nursing homes. This past year should give us the impetus to re-vision the future of long term care, and these two leaders will be part of the solution.  You can join us here. Stay safe, stay in touch,