On Tuesday, January 26th, Kevin Kaufman, our Chief Financial Officer, and Administrator Pat Berry joined me on a road trip to Pierre to meet with fellow healthcare professionals and our state legislators.This is an annual event put on by the South Dakota Health Care Association, who represents Dow Rummel and hundreds of other senior adult living facilities around the state.
 
Our trip was in doubt right up until we left town - the winter weather in the previous 24 hours had shut down the Interstates and made the notion of a three-hour journey less than exciting. But the sun came out, even though the temperatures stayed frigid, and we headed west.

We're glad we did.

There aren't too many pieces of legislation during this session that directly affect the Dow Rummel community, but the chance to compare notes always allows us to come away with fresh perspectives and ideas. The biggest challenge is the state budget debate. The state faces severe budget challenges this year and going forward and that includes possible cuts in Medicare and Medicaid. We will be following developments closely as the budget debate intensifies.

We were especially happy to spend time with District 15 State Senator Kathy Miles. (District 15 includes Dow Rummel Village!)
We also had a wonderful conversation with State House Representative ShantelKrebs of District 10.

We have some wonderful representation in Pierre and we look forward to working with them through the remainder of the session.

Darla J. Van Rosendale
Chief Executive Officer