Lee Rood

lrood@dmreg.com

A transgender stroke survivor who couldn’t find a nursing home in central Iowa that would take her is more hopeful she'll soon have a place to live.

Mercy Medical Center workers say a facility in Waterloo has expressed interest in admitting LeQuan Edwards, 52, who has been recovering at the hospital since March. But hospital workers also are looking into assisted-living apartments closer to family in Des Moines.

In a May 19 Reader’s Watchdog column, a former minister advocating for Edwards said more than 90 nursing homes and rehab centers had declined to admit Edwards, largely because she is transgender.

Donna Red Wing, executive director of One Iowa, the statewide advocacy group for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, said the problem of finding homes for elderly transgender people is a national one.

The column spurred concern from those who oppose having transgender people in shared rooms and others who deplored Edwards' rejection based on gender identity.

Reader Jerry Crew of Webb wrote: “I feel empathy for LeQuan Edwards, but I have little doubt the purpose of the article was more to promote the ‘in your face’ LGBT agenda than humanitarian.”

Dylan Woodward, a clinical social worker in Minnesota who grew up in Iowa, questioned why Edwards’ transgender status would have been made public to others and why other residents should get to decide where transgender people live.

“If they cannot accommodate her, they should be required to give her a single room at the Medicaid rates and eat the loss. It should not be the patient’s problem that they cannot accommodate her for whatever reason.”

Woodward asked what the Iowa Department of Human Services is doing to demand that facilities that receive state and federal money train their staff on treating transgender residents and nontransgender residents equally. “As a social worker and advocate for transgender and transsexual individuals, I want to make sure this does not continue to happen without major efforts being taken to address and change this situation.”

Nursing homes and rehabilitation facilities that accept Medicaid are prohibited by law from discriminating against residents based on gender identity.

Yet only one Iowa nursing home out of about 90 checked said it would admit Edwards. It was 2½ hours away, in Muscatine, far from Edwards’ family and support network.

Medicaid will not pay for private rooms, except on a temporary basis. Edwards would have to use a portion of her Social Security Disability check to live in a low-income assisted-living facility, according to Frank Kiener, the social work manager at Mercy.

Edwards has struggled to get around after her stroke, but last week she took several steps with assistance. She also struggles with mental health issues, including bipolar and post-traumatic stress disorders.

On Friday, doctors swung by Edwards' room at Mercy and gave her a pep talk. The harder she works with a physical therapist, one said, the better her chances of improving.

Edwards told me she was in a good mood and encouraged after the Watchdog column appeared.

"You stirred the pot," she said, smiling.

Lee Rood's Reader's Watchdog column helps Iowans get answers and accountability from public officials, the justice system, businesses and nonprofits. Contact her at lrood@dmreg.com, 515-284-8549 on Twitter @leerood or at Facebook.com/readerswatchdog.