Houghton County Flips Vote on Canal View Resolution in a Special Meeting Today
Updated story:
Last Friday the Houghton county commission passed a resolution of support for the county’s long term medical facility. Over the past couple of weeks, Canal View’s administrator Kim Salmi, has advocated for loosening covid restrictions on long term care facilities, so her and her staff can continue providing high quality care. Throughout the pandemic Canal view has received high ratings for care and services, while at the same time hemorrhaging losses in staff is causing extreme staff shortages at the facility and many other LTC’s Salmi has kept in contact with.
“Like I said, we felt like we’ve kind of been lost a little bit during covid. And so it’s nice that we finally have a seat at the table. I’m hoping that that will empower our staff to share their stories of what’s happened over the last couple of years. And what we need to do to recover. We need to recruit people into the healthcare industry. And it’s a great field, but you have to care. And for those people who care, we need to be able to support them. And so that means they have a healthy working environment, with decent hours, and good wages.” – Kim Salmi, Canal View Administrator
Commission Chairman, Tom Tikkanen, was a full supporter of the resolution when it was initially introduced to the board earlier in the week. After clarifying some language, the resolution of support passed 4 to zero, commissioner Janssen was absent from the special meeting. Tikkonen expressed that it is important for conversations like Salmi’s to start at a grass roots level, so it is clear that the message is coming from the people.
“Canal View is the perfect example for an advocate for this effort. Why? Because of the top rating they’ve managed to maintain through this whole crisis. But at the same time they’ve been negatively affected by the reduction in available staff. Which reduces the number of residents (they can care for). And the number of residents, there’s still the same number of people (who) need care. And they aren’t getting it. – Tom Tikkanen, Houghton County Commission Chairman
Canal View’s administrator, Kim Salmi has agreed to rescind her resignation from the facility. So she can continue to support her staff and residents through her leadership, and help provide a high standard of quality care. Long term care facilities across the state and country are facing similar problems as canal view, including very strict covid guidelines, burnt out staff, and large staff shortages. Salmi hopes to continue the conversation, as she plans to distribute the letter and resolution to elected officials and other long term care administrators.
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Canal View has the support of Houghton County’s Board of Commissioners and many of its residents. This afternoon in a special meeting, Commissioner Janssen was absent due to a prior commitment, the Houghton County Board of Commissioners passed resolution 2022 – 13 A, showing their support of Canal View advocating for a conversation around loosening covid restriction in long term care facilities. The original resolution was reviewed and did not pass with a vote of 2 to 2, Codere and Anderson voted no. The second resolution, 2022 – 13 A, passed in a vote of 4 to zero, all four present commissioners voted yes. The newer resolution clarified language that turned some commissioners away during the commission’s meeting this past Tuesday. The resolution will now move up the chain and be distributed to Senators Stabenow and Peters as well as Congressman Bergman. We will have more information on the special meeting and the resolution for our newscast on Monday. 91 people attended the meeting via zoom, with another 123 in physical attendance.
If you are interested in viewing the passed resolution, scroll to pages 4-5 of the Special Meeting 9-16-2022 Board Packet. You will find a link to the county commission’s special meeting board packet, here.