Getting Needed Care - Lakeland Care District

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Wednesday, May 22, 2013 / Serving Manitowoc County / Check for updates online at htrnews.com
New signs
may capture
attention
GETTING
NEEDED
Manitowoc council
OKs ordinance to help
downtown businesses
CARE
By Charlie Mathews
HTR Media
MANITOWOC — It’s full speed
ahead now for Rock N Blues Haus
co-owner Jim Behnke and other
downtown business owners wanting to explore using new signage
for promotion.
Following a public hearing, the
City Council Monday night unanimously endorsed a revised sign ordinance, specifically Chapter
15.450, including new language for
murals, sandwich boards and projecting signs.
“A lot of people
think we are the old
Studio 8, which we
are not,” Behnke told
council members during
public
input
linked to the proposed ordinance. He
pushed for the ability
Jamie
to use different types
Zastrow
of signs to advertise
the Eighth Street establishment’s
food
and live music offerings.
The council chose
not to refer the ordinance back to the
originating Plan ComTony
mission for further
Fodden
discussion. It was to
set to review the issue today.
That was just fine with Mainly
Manitowoc Executive Director Jamie Zastrow. “I am very happy to
have this moving forward,” she
said.
Her downtown economic revitalization group’s Design Committee has spent significant time the
last three years developing guidelines for both facade improvements and signage.
Zastrow said signs project an
image about the types and quality
of merchandise or services provided both within a building and
throughout the entire Main Street
district. She believes signs are key
in helping to promote downtown as
a viable business district.
“Our fast-moving, one-way traffic in our downtown district causes
issues with businesses that would
like to be more noticed,” Zastrow
said. She said projecting signs and
sandwich boards would be helpful
in getting customers’ attention.
Randy Lueptow, co-owner of
Wrap It Up on Eighth Street, said
sandwich boards would enhance
safety as drivers could look ahead
and see what businesses offer rather than turning their heads turn to
the side as they drive by.
Zastrow told council members
Mainly Manitowoc supporters had
researched sign ordinances in oth-
Evelyn Lyons sits in her wheelchair sewing a patriotically decorated dish towel. With help from Family
Care, she has been able to stay living in her own home. MATTHEW APGAR/HTR MEDIA
Family Care
provides
personalized
help at
less cost
ON THE NET
» For a video about the impact Family
Care has in providing critical, costeffective help so members can lead
independent lives by HTR Media reporter Charlie Mathews, visit
www.htrnews.com.
M
By Charlie Mathews | HTR Media
ANITOWOC — Much to her de-
light, stroke victim Evelyn Lyons
has been able to stay in her own
home while Don Shawhan, 57, and
developmentally disabled, has
moved into a better living arrangement and now cooks his
own meals.
Judy Ruggirello says her congitively disabled son,
Kenny, is living with dignity and having his needs met
including participation in various activities at an adult
day care center.
What these Lakeshore area residents have in common is they are members of the Lakeland Care District, a managed care organization coordinating longterm Family Care program services for frail elderly
and disabled Wisconsin residents in Fond du Lac, Winnebago and Manitowoc counties.
Its chief executive officer, Katie Mnuk, will give an
update at the organization’s annual meeting at 3:30 p.m.
today, including the good news that its waiting list has
been eliminated and costs to taxpayers have gone
down significantly.
At 4 p.m. members, family members and others can
offer public comment at LCD’s Manitowoc office, 3415
See CARE, Page A2
See SIGNS, Page A7
Four arrested in connection with drug death
HTR Media
MANITOWOC — Manitowoc police arrested four
people Monday in connection with the May 1 drug
death of Ronald W. Edwards, 45, of Manitowoc.
Felony charges of party to the crime of first-degree reckless homicide
are being sought against a
25-year-old Two Rivers
woman, a 25-year-old Two
Rivers man, a 39-year-old
Manitowoc woman and a
28-year-old Two Rivers
woman, said Detective
Mike Stone of the Manitowoc Police Department.
According to Stone:
Edwards was not prescribed methadone, but
toxicology tests showed
that the main cause of his
death was methadone
found in his blood stream.
Methadone is a synthetic
opiate used in the treatment of pain or to wean
people off of addictions to
heroin or prescription
pain medications.
The 39year-old
woman, Edward’s longtime
girlfriend, said
Mike Stone he suffered
from chronic back pain and that he
asked her on April 30 to
get him some methadone
forthepain.Shehadpreviously purchased methadone from the 28-year-old
woman and arranged to
meet her on South 10th
Street in Manitowoc.
The 28-year-old woman
and her boyfriend, the 25year-old man, were being
treated at an addiction
management clinic in Sheboygan, where they received liquid methadone.
He was allowed to bring
his methadone home and
kept it in a locked box. He
unlocked the box and the
28-year-old
women
poured some methadone
INDEX
ADVICE........................... B6 LOTTERY ........................ B2
CLASSIFIED ................ B4-5 OBITUARIES .................. A3
$1.00 Retail
For home delivery pricing
see page A2
COMICS.......................... A6 OPINION ........................ A4
CROSSWORD ................ B6 SCOREBOARD............... B2
HOROSCOPE ................. B6 SPORTS........................ B1-3
LOCAL ............................ A5 WEATHER...................... A2
in another bottle and told
him she was delivering it
to the 39-year-old.
She asked the 25-yearold woman to drive her
from Two Rivers to Manitowoc so she could deliver
the methadone and paid
her for the ride with an Adderall pill and possibly
cash.
Edwards’
girlfriend
gave him the methadone
on the evening of April 30
and he drank it. The next
morning he was found
dead in his bed.
“We’re going to actively pursue these overdose
death
investigations,”
Stone said.
This case sends a message to people who illegally deliver prescription
medications, said Detective Dave Vorpahl.
People will be accountable, said Capt. Scott
Luchterhand.
WEATHER
INSIDE
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Times Reporter
HIGH
66
LOW
48
More, A2
Compiled by Suzanne Weiss:
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» $5,000 Make A
Difference Day
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PAGE A7
A2 ◆ WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2013
K1
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HERALD TIMES REPORTER
Care
based tasks. Now, just one
individual ... perhaps a
family member ... can do
them all, such as cleaning
around the house while
waiting for the washing
machine to finish.
“Members are excellent at training other people to take care of them,”
Hyland said. “The people
who use (Self-Directed
Supports) nine times out
of 10 are able to verbalize
their needs and what
works best for them.”
Continued from Page A1
Custer St.
“Entitlement reform is
a concept receiving a lot of
attention these days and
with good reason,” Mnuk
told the Joint Finance
Committee as the Legislature and Gov. Scott Walker
consider expanding
Family Care
to the 15
counties
without the
service.
“Limited
taxpayer reDon
sources
Shawhan
drive
the
need for all
public services to be
delivered
more efficiently and
cost-effectively,
inJudy
cluding
Ruggirello
safety-net
services for our most vulnerable citizens,” Mnuk
testified. The LCD initially coordinated care for
residents in Fond du Lac
County, then became responsible for eligible citizens in Winnebago and
Manitowoc counties.
Services
contracted
through Family Care may
include assistance with
daily living activities including bathing, dressing,
managing money, meal
preparation and transportation. Family Care does
not include medical care,
however.
“People really want to
stay in their homes as long
as possible, and we try to
provide the right services
at the right place and at
the right time,” Mnuk
said.
Living in own home
Lyons, 56, had a stroke
11 years ago and her very
survival was in jeopardy.
She has daily assistance
from supportive home
care services on the days
her husband is at work to
assist her with dressing,
bathing, medication and
diabetic monitoring. She
also receives assistance
through Family Care with
transportation to and from
medical appointments.
The income taxpayerfunded help means she
has been able to remain
living at home with her
husband, Paul, and he has
been able to continue
working at Skana Aluminum. She enjoys sewing,
dartball and their dog,
Blue.
Avoiding going into a
nursing home saves money for Family Care. When
LCD began providing
Family Care services in
Manitowoc County in August 2010, the average
“PMPM” — per member
per month — costs were
$3,112. It is currently
$2,642.
Mnuk told the JFC that
LCD brings together all
available resources including family, neighbors,
community programs and
others. “This holistic approach to meeting needs
helps limit the amount of
paid services included in
members’ care plans,” she
said.
Family Care member Don Shawhan sorts through recycled
paper products at the Manitowoc County Recycling
Facility. He has moved into a safer place and now cooks.
Cognitively disabled Kenny
Ruggirello, a member of
Lakeland Care District’s
Family Care, shares a laugh
with his mother, Judy, after
he jokingly knocked down
the bowling pins with his
foot instead of using a
plastic ball at Better
Beginnings adult day care
center in Manitowoc. SUE
SUE PISCHKE/HTR MEDIA
PISCHKE/HTR MEDIA
“As the number of
members served as has
grown, the ratio of less expensive waitlist members
has risen in comparison to
the number of people formerly served under the
more costly legacy waiver
system,” Mnuk said.
Prior to LCD, many of
the services were provided or coordinated by staff
in the Long Term Care division of the county’s Human Services Department.
County Executive Bob
Ziegelbauer said there is
much closer scrutiny of
dollars spent. He and Jim
Brey, a county supervisor
and LCD board chairman,
said an “entitled to it mentality” has been replaced
by a “let’s assess what you
truly need” approach.
Mnuk, Ziegelbauer and
Brey said under the old
system, many people entered nursing homes even
when they could have
been served less expensively in their homes or
the community because it
was the only way to be
guaranteed needed assistance.
Mnuk said LCD has
successfully relocated 64
people from nursing
homes to community settings more appropriate
for their needs, such as assisted living or community-based residential facilities. She said the state has
estimated the average
cost savings at 34 percent.
ready exist in a member’s
life.
“The LCD has identified that when a member
has control over whom
they hire, quality of care
increases and becomes
more person centered,”
Hyland said.
Hyland noted that between 2010 and 2012, the
per member per month
costs in Manitowoc for
home health services has
gone down from $213 to
$36 and for supportive
home care from $762 to
$438.
She said service cost
reductions can be attributed to a myriad of factors,
including:
» Use of available resources including, family,
neighbors,
community
programs.
» Elimination of services duplicated on the
care plan.
» Change in the needs
of the overall membership.
» Reduction of rates.
» Managing services
formerly available as a
Medicaid card service.
» An increase in member prevention, health and
wellness.
Hyland said sometimes, under the former
system, three different
providers may have been
doing different home-
Sleeping on cot
What has worked best
for Shawhan is getting out
of the boarding house with
drug and alcohol abuse
where he slept on an army
cot and only had a plastic
container full of belongings. There was no place
for Shawhan, who works
three days a week as a
sorter at the Manitowoc
County Recylcing Facility
through Holiday House, to
cook meals.
He had no way to coordinate or get to medical
appointments and didn’t
know how to manage his
finances.
With help from LCDFamily Care, Shawhan has
found a safe place to live,
remain independent and
receive home care services to help him with grocery shopping and meal
preparation.
Shawhan said he was
proud to learn how to cook
and would like to explore
other employment opportunities.
A former special education teacher, Ruggirello
adopted her son, 31, as a
toddler. He attended Riverview
Elementary
School until going to Lincoln High School and being mainstreamed in a few
classes.
She said he has an excellent sense of humor,
knows the songs of many
country music performers and would be thrilled
by a visit from Carrie Underwood. He lives in an
adult family group home
in Two Rivers.
Ruggirello serves on
the LCD board, motivated
she said by wanting an affected family member’s
perspective to be included
in its deliberations.
“The positive thing
with Family Care is we
really look at the members
and what their life circumstances and wants are so
we can allow them to live
with dignity in the place of
their choice and get the
services they actually
need,” Ruggirello said.
“That doesn’t mean
they get everything they
want,” she said. “(Developing) a much more individualized, member-centered plan is the way it
works.”
Ruggirello said she
hopes
Family
Care
evolves into offering
treatment to those with
mental illnesses and, perhaps, including dental
care.
The Fond du Lac Reporter
contributed to this story.
Charlie Mathews: (920)
686-2969 or
[email protected]
902 Franklin St.
Manitowoc, WI 54220-4514
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Use family members
The initial number of
members was 511 and is
now 642. Previous surveys
by LCD show 92 percent of
respondents said “always” or “most of the
time” to being happy with
the quality of services received, satisfaction with
their care manager, and
getting help from their
nurse when needed.
Meghan Hyland, LCD’s
quality care director, said
“Self-Directed Supports”
is a way for many Family
Care members to arrange,
purchase and direct longterm service.
Through a budget created by the care management team, members can
hire family, neighbors and
friends or advertise for
help. But this approach is
not meant to replace “natural supports” that al-
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