Mark Deak

Mark Deak is the executive director of the South Dakota Health Care Association. It’s a lobbying organization that represents many of the state’s long-term care facilities. He says there is a range of challenges facing the industry today.

Legislators approve a ten percent ongoing increase in Medicaid reimbursement in response to the statewide nursing home crisis. That equals nearly 18…

In order to spur development of other long-term care options, South Dakota placed a limit on the number of nursing home beds in the state in the 1980’s.…