Following the conclusion of today’s Senate Family Care and Aging Committee, committee chairwoman Senator Karin Housley (R-St. Marys Point) issued the following statement:

“While I appreciate the commissioner and her staff participating in today’s hearing, there appears to be little progress to report since our last meeting a month ago. Despite sending our questions ahead of time, we walked away with more promises of emailed responses than useful information. I certainly do not believe this is going to be solved in a committee hearing, but I was hoping to see more improvement in areas like testing, staffing, and a plan to allow residents to reconnect with their loved ones—even if it’s being outdoors and six feet apart. I have been willing to afford the commissioner significant latitude amid the circumstances, but my constituents and I are growing more and more exasperated every day.

“As the administration is quick to point out, much of its decision making relies on ‘science’ and ‘data’—and while those are critical pieces of a successful response, I worry that approach has come to exist in a vacuum. After almost three months of lockdown at long-term care facilities, residents and staff—and their families—are terrified and exhausted.

“We need to see a better executed, more comprehensive plan. I will continue to aggressively push for potential solutions that have worked in other states, including universal testing of all residents and staff and ending hospital discharges to long-term care settings without dedicated units and staff.”

Senator Karin Housley represents Forest Lake, Stillwater, and the surrounding St. Croix Valley in the Minnesota Senate. She serves as chair of the Senate Family Care and Aging Committee and is an assistant majority leader.