Email: lpolivka@fsu.edu
LuMarie Polivka-West, MSP, joined the Florida State University Claude Pepper Center in October 2015 as a Sr. Research Associate (volunteer) and was elected a Fellow by the Gerontological Society of America in 2015. Her major areas of research include Medicaid managed long term care, and key issues related to federal and state regulations and financing of aging services and growing unmet needs.
Ms. Polivka-West retired after 23 years with the Florida Health Care Association, previously the Sr. Vice President for Policy and Program Development with responsibility for the planning and implementation of long term care related policies and programs, and staffing the former FHCA Quality Credentialing Program. Ms. Polivka-West is a past Florida Director of Licensure and Certification with the Agency for Health Care Administration, HRS Medicaid Program Development Chief and Aging Community-Based Services Chief with over 20 years in state government that included the OBRA implementation in 1987 at the Florida Medicaid Agency and the planning and implementation of Florida’s Medicaid Home and Community-based Waiver programs.
Publications:
- Gonzalez, L., Polivka, L., & Polivka-West, L. (2021) Failures of Regulation and Policy in Medicaid-Managed Long-Term Care and Medicare Advantage. Public Policy and Aging Report, 31(2), 57-61.
- Brown, L. M., Bruce, M. L., Hyer, K., Mills, W. L., Vongxaiburana, E. & Polivka-West, L. (2009). A Pilot Study Evaluating the Feasibility of Psychological First Aid for Nursing Home Residents. Clinical Gerontologist, 32(3), 293-308.
- Brown, L. M., Hyer, K., Schinka, J. A., Mando, A., Frazier, D., & Polivka-West, L. (2010). Use of mental health services by nursing home residents after hurricanes. Psychiatric Services, 74-7.
- Brown, L.M., Hyer, K., & Polivka-West, L. (2007). A Comparative Study of Federal and State Laws, Rules, Codes and Other Influences on Nursing Homes’ Disaster Preparedness in the Gulf Coast States. Behavioral Sciences & the Law. Vol. 25, 1-21.
- Dosa, D. M., Hyer, K., Brown, L. M., Artenstein, A. W., Polivka-West, L. M., & Mor, V. (2008). The controversy inherent in managing frail nursing home residents during complex hurricane emergencies. The Journal of the American Medical Directors Association. 9(8), 599-604.
- Hyer, K, Polivka-West, L. & Brown, L. (2007-08). Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities: Planning and Decision-Making for Sheltering in Place or Evacuation. Generations. 31(4), 29-33.
- Hyer, K., Brown, L. M., Polivka-West, L., & Berman, A. (2010). Helping nursing homes prepare for disasters. Health Affairs, 1961-5.
- Hyer, K., Brown, L. M., Thomas, K. S., Dosa, D., Bond, J., Polivka-West, L., et al. (2010). Improving relations between emergency management offices and nursing homes during hurricane-related disasters. Journal of Emergency Management, Vol. 8, 57-66.
- Hyer, K., Brown, L., Berman, A., Polivka-West, L. (2006). Establishing and Refining Hurricane Response Systems for Long-Term Care Facilities. Health Affairs: The Policy Journal of the Health Sphere, Aug. 29, 2006.
- Krok, J., Dobbs, D., Hyer, K., & Polivka-West, L. (2011). Nurse managers’ perspectives of structural and process characteristics related to residents’ advance directives in nursing homes. Applied Nursing Research, 24(4) e45-50.
- Polivka, Larry & LuMarie Polivka-West (2019): The Changing Role of NonProfit Organizations in the U.S. Long Term Care System, Journal of Aging & Social Policy, DOI: 10.1080/08959420.2019.1642693
- Polivka-West, L. (June 2009). Statement of LuMarie Polivka-West for the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living, before the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging Hearing on Hurricane and Disaster Preparedness for Long Term Care Facilities
- Polivka-West, L., & Berman, A. (2008). Safeguarding seniors during hurricanes. The American Journal of Nursing, 108
- Polivka-West, L.M., Tuch, H., & Goldsmith, K. Kapp, (2001). A perfect storm of unlimited risks for Florida nursing home providers. In M. B. Kapp (Ed.), Ethics, Law, and Aging Review (Vol.7). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company, Inc.
- Thomas, K., Hyer, K., Brown, L. M., Polivka-West, L., & Branch, L. (2009). Florida’s model of nursing home Medicaid reimbursement for disaster-related expenses. The Gerontologist, Vol. 50, 263-270.
Issue Briefs:
- Medicaid Managed Care – An Eye on Florida (January 2020)
- Dallas Morning News Pain and Profit Briefing by the Claude Pepper Center (2018-2019)
- Aging Services key informants’ discussion summaries from 2017-18 (2018)
- Medicaid Managed Long Term Care in Florida (Dec 2017)
Completed Research Support:
- John A. Hartford Foundation grant, “Hurricane and Disaster Preparedness for Long Term Care Facilities.” (2006-2009)
- Role: Principal Investigator. This project, awarded to the Florida Health Care Association Education and Development Foundation, produced an all-hazards nursing home emergency management guide and software for national use; developed and tested nursing home disaster training materials; convened two gulf coast state Hurricane Summits and two national transportation summits on emergency transportation for long term care facilities.
- The Borchard Foundation Center on Law & Aging grant, “Hurricanes and Long Term Care Facilities: Creating State Models for Legal and Regulatory Responsibility for Disaster Preparedness, Response and Recovery.” (2006-2007)
- Role: Co-Principal Investigator with the University of South Florida. This project compiled and reported on the legislative requirements, regulatory processes, policies, and systems of emergency operations for long term care facilities in Florida, Georgia, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North and South Carolina and Alabama. Draft model legislative language and policies for regulation and coordination of disaster planning operations to include input from long term care facilities at all levels of emergency planning were developed and disseminated.