CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Iowa Department of Public Health Director Kelly Garcia speaks at a news conference March 17 at Iowa PBS.

The Iowa Department of Human Services says questions posed about a nursing home program that the agency oversees will be treated as requests for government documents which are subject to the imposition of fees.

The department said it will not make DHS Director Kelly Garcia or anyone else in the agency available for an interview about the program, will only respond to written questions on the topic, and will treat those written questions as document requests made under the Iowa Open Records Law.

That law allows public agencies to charge fees, which can run into the thousands of dollars, for the time spent retrieving documents and conducting legal reviews to determine whether the records should be disclosed or kept confidential.

DHS spokesman Alex Carfrae said Friday that “at this time” he doesn’t expect the agency will charge a fee to answer questions about the program posed by the Iowa Capital Dispatch.

The issue first arose on Jan. 6, when the Capital Dispatch asked DHS three questions about a nursing home program that relies on care facilities to pay quarterly fees to the state. In its request, the news organization noted that one Iowa nursing home chain has stated in court that it failed to pay $4 million of those fees to the state. The Capital Dispatch asked DHS which Iowa nursing homes are behind in their payments, how much they owe, and what action, if any, DHS is taking to secure payment.

In response, Carfrae said the questions were being treated as a demand for documents made under the Iowa Open Records Law. “While you aren’t requesting an existing document, we treat the request the same as if you were,” Carfrae said.

The Capital Dispatch objected, arguing that a request for documents could lead to the imposition of fees, adding that it was merely “posing a couple of questions.”

On Jan. 12, after no answers or documents were provided, the Capital Dispatch requested an interview with either DHS Director Kelly Garcia or someone else of the agency’s own choosing, about the program.

Twelve days later, on Jan. 24, the department indicated no interviews would be provided, but the department would answer questions submitted in writing.

The Capital Dispatch submitted five questions in writing and indicated it was still waiting for answers to the three questions posed on Jan. 6.

In response, Carfrae said DHS was treating the five additional questions as another demand for documents made under the Iowa Open Records Law.

DHS refuses to discuss program, treats questions about it as document requests