Kentucky is grappling with a significant backlog of overdue nursing home inspections, raising concerns about the potential for undiscovered health and safety issues, state officials cautioned in a legislative panel meeting on Tuesday.

“We need to be clear: We’re way behind. We’re waaay behind. We’ve got a long way to go to catch up. There’s no quick fix on this. It’s gonna take us, if we’re lucky, a year to dig out of this,” Health and Family Services Secretary Eric Friedlander said.

Recent data revealed that Kentucky has one of the nation’s most extensive backlogs in nursing home inspections, with a startling 73 percent of the state’s 277 nursing homes going more than two years without a mandated “annual” inspection, as reported by The Herald-Leader.

This backlog is surpassed only by Maryland, with a backlog rate of 75 percent. In contrast, the national average backlog for nursing home inspections stands at 11 percent.

The shortage of nursing home inspectors exacerbates the problem, with fewer than 20 percent of Kentucky’s inspector positions being filled as of last fall. The shortage is attributed to factors such as low pay, long work hours, and demanding travel requirements, prompting many inspectors, including registered nurses, to leave their positions in recent years.

The backlog is attributed to a confluence of factors, including the diversion of attention during the COVID-19 pandemic to infection control measures. However, Kentucky has struggled more than other states due to the departure of registered nurses to higher-paying private sector jobs.

The state is actively exploring solutions to address the problem. Efforts include increasing pay rates for nurse positions and leveraging private contractors to recruit nurses and perform inspections. Additionally, a new career advancement pathway for licensed practical nurses is being established to fill the void.

As the state strives to reduce the inspection backlog, it plans to prioritize nursing homes with a history of serious citations or complaints. However, officials cautioned that the resolution of this issue is not imminent, underscoring the challenges in recruiting and retaining nursing staff.

“We’ve got a very serious issue that kind of caught us by surprise,” said state Sen. Stephen Meredith, R-Leitchfield.