Basic Care Beds | Video

Jennifer Joas | 9/26/2012

For many senior citizens, being able to stay in a basic care facility is very important. But when a facility fills up, seniors might may have to travel 50 miles or more to find another vacancy.

A facility in Steele is full and there`s a waiting list. Administrators have been requesting more beds but the health council turned them down because the center fell below state requirements.

So they are asking the Health Services Committee to make an exception.

"So I hate to see exceptions for every rule because that`s not a good thing, but we do think it`s really important to be reasonable in trying to determine whether or not there should be an exception made for this facility," said committee chairman Sen. Judy Lee.

There are open basic care beds in other facilities across the state but the distance can be discouraging for seniors.

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