Local Health Care Provider meets with Lt Gov about Licensing

As our population ages, the need for in-home, non-medical health care grows.  However, medical and non-medical home care companies still are not regulated in the United States.  Bonnie Holmes owns and operates Loving Health Care in Oconee County.  She recently went to Columbia to discuss licensing of in-home, non-medical health care. “We want the most quality for seniors that they can possible have.  I am for having licensing of in-home, non-medical care.  I have spoken to both State Senator Thomas Alexander and Lt. Gov. Glenn McConnell; in fact, I was down there yesterday.  Both of them are very pro having seniors taken care of and licensing.  There has been a difficult between getting the regulations written by DHEC and being able to take those regulations and make them into law, it will happen.  In fact, Lt. Gov. McConnell said that he is setting aside more money to go for seniors, which was so encouraging.  I had a wonderful interview with him yesterday and felt so good about that.” A report by the Senate Special Committee on Aging notes that addressing elder abuse in home-based care settings is becoming a growing concern.  The South Carolina Legislature passed a bill to license in-home, non-medical health care in May 2011.  However, directors at DHEC failed to accept regulations in February 2013 because they were too strict.  Sources at DHEC have stated that it would take a minimum of two-years to revise the license regulations.