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Letter to the Editor: Rob Bell is a 'voice for the most vulnerable'

By By Erik Elvgren, Albemarle County
Published: June 17, 2009

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To the Editor:
While living at a local assisted living facility, my wife's 93-year-old grandmother developed a pressure ulcer. Pressure ulcers are areas of injury to skin and tissue that develop as the result of periods of constant pressure that cuts off circulation to at risk parts of the body. Without sufficient blood flow to these areas, the affected tissue dies.
By the time the assisted living facility discovered my wife's grandmother's pressure ulcer, it had progressed to Stage 4, which required hospitalization.
When our family tried to report this event to the proper assisted living governing board, we met a dead end. Pressure ulcers in assisted living facilities were not a reportable event in Virginia. There was no system in place to track which assisted living facilities had residents that had developed pressure ulcers and what that facility did about it.
We approached Delegate Rob Bell and explained the situation. Delegate Bell worked with the Virginia Department of Social Services' Division of Licensing Programs to change Virginia's regulations. As of February 2009, assisted living facilities in Virginia are required to report Stage 2,3 and 4 pressure ulcers whenever identified to the Division of Licensing Programs.
It is my family's hope that this new regulation will make assisted living facilities more vigilant in preventing pressure ulcers and more diligent in seeking treatment when they do occur. Many thanks to Delegate Bell for his hard work and compassion. He truly is a voice for the most vulnerable members of our community.
Sincerely,
Erik Elvgren
Albemarle County