Nursing home operators are concerned about how long it takes to get the state to do a background check on potential nursing home employees

A crowd of around 30 people attended the legislative forum at the Aase Haugen Home Monday

When someone applies for a job at an Iowa nursing home and that home wants to hire them, the nursing home administrators first must get the State of Iowa to do a background check.

But Iowa Healthcare Association representative Cindy Bablow told a Decorah legislative forum on Monday that the Department of Human Services does not have the information computerized.  Instead, nursing homes must send a FAX to the state--where employees sort the requests by hand.

Aase Haugen Home Administrator Sue Bjelland says she's had some background check requests take more than a month for the state to process.  Bjelland says the process needs to be speeded up.

Bablow had suggestions for state legislative candidates Michael Breitbach, John Beard, Roger Thomas, Michael Klimesh and Merlin Bartz.  She said the state needs to buy computers for the information about criminal backgrounds.  She also suggests that nursing homes be allowed to pay a fee--perhaps $100--in cases where they want a quick answer on a background check.

Bablow says the situation is simple--there's a need for upgraded office technology at the DHS offices in Des Moines.