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# IowaWatch Forum: Critical Decisions About Elder Care
- URL: https://www.investigatemidwest.org/iowawatch-forum-critical-decisions-about-elder-care/
- Published: 2014-04-29T15:19:29.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-11T02:24:03.000Z
- Description: Watch a video, read the liveblog: An IowaWatch forum, Criticial Decisions about Elder Care, focused on important decisions Iowans face about long-term elder care. A panel of three distinguished experts spoke about the difficulty of improving the quality of long-term elder care.
- Author: Lauren Mills
- Tags: Health, iowawatch, Aging Resources of Central Iowa, Clark Kauffman, Des Moines Register, elder care, forum, Hale Group, health care, John Hale, nursing homes, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-06-18 04:56

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The Tuesday, April 29, 2014, IowaWatch forum, Criticial Decisions about Elder Care, sponsored by [Aging Resources of Central Iowa](http://www.agingresources.com/?ref=investigatemidwest.org), focused on important decisions Iowans face about long-term elder care.

A panel of three distinguished experts spoke to an audience about the difficulty of improving the quality of long-term elder care and key issues to look out for when considering long-term care.

#### PANELISTS:

**Clark Kauffman**, Des Moines Register investigative reporter. Clark has reported extensively on neglect and abuse cases in Iowa nursing homes and systemic problems in the long-term care system.

**Deanna Clingan-Fischer**, Iowa’s long-term care ombudsman. Deanna’s office seeks to protect the health, safety, welfare and rights of people in long-term care.

**John Hale**, founder and owner of The Hale Group, an Ankeny-based consulting firm focused on long-term care public policy and service delivery issues. John is known at the Iowa Statehouse, and throughout Iowa, as a leading and passionate advocate for excellence in long-term care.

You may view here excerpts from that forum:

  
*Video by Meghan Horihan, IowaWatch.org*