More state grant funds are being distributed to nursing homes in Minnesota, as part of a $173.5 million initiative. In 2023, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who is also the Democratic vice presidential nominee, and the state legislature, signed off on a $300 million bipartisan package to address the crisis facing nursing homes across the state.

Each facility receives a base payment of $225,000 plus an estimated $3,900 per bed for 340 facilities, according to a statement from Minnesota Senator Jordan Rasmusson (R-Fergus Falls) and a report in WCCO News. Payments were distributed between August 2023 and August 2024.

Funds can be used for fiscal management strategies to improve the financial health of facilities.

“We’re certainly not here to take a victory lap in and of itself, but to highlight that solutions can be found, problems can be solved,” Walz told WCCO at the time.

LeadingAge Minnesota recognized the funding initiative, which is expected to support 24,000 spots for residents in these facilities in the long run, according to Gov. Walz’s office.

About 42% of nursing homes and assisted living facilities had six months or fewer until all reserves dried up, the association said at the time the bipartisan package was passed. Legislators said nursing homes would be a focus for them in 2024, and in the meantime facilitated a loan program allowing 0% interest loans for Minnesota nursing homes.

“We would say that the funding is very needed in light of the financial crisis that we face. I think we wish it would have been done sooner in the legislative session than it was—it was one of the last packages that passed before they adjourned,” LeadingAge Minnesota President and CEO Kari Thurlow told WCCO. “It will be helpful. We are grateful. And I want to underscore that. But it is also only one-time money.”

Such resources were sorely needed but won’t help with ongoing expenses, she said. It won’t solve the persistent problem of delays in Medicaid either, with facilities in the state sometimes waiting 18 months before they’re paid back, Thurlow noted.