It’s hard to pin down how nursing home operators should be feeling as the end of the year approaches. The best way I could describe it, one week after attending the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) conference in Nashville, is a combination of optimism and pessimism that fluctuates depending on the […]
Category: Compliance
As more nursing homes seek to add behavioral health services to their continuum of care, providers that have been specializing in these areas for decades can be used as a blueprint to achieving similar results. Covid-induced isolation, coupled with initiatives outlined by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), make existing programs – like […]
With roughly 2,000 job openings to fill, Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society CEO Nate Schema has had to attack the issue from all sides. Most recently Good Samaritan launched a director of nursing (DON) in training program in hopes of developing a “very defined pathway to grow high potential people.” The not-for-profit senior care giant […]
The sale of bankrupt Iowa-based QHC facilities may be blocked — again — this time by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The federal agency is concerned the deal will not cover $1 million owed to it. Blue Diamond Equities, a New Jersey-based privately owned real estate holdings and management company, proposed to […]
Nursing home leaders have largely steered clear of making predictions given the events of the last two-plus years, but the head of the sector’s largest trade group confidently made one Monday. “One thing that I am sure about, and that I see very clearly is my prediction, and that is that you and your team […]
Ahead of a federal minimum staffing ratio to be proposed for the nation’s nursing homes, data continues to show a shortfall of available staff to meet such requirements. Many operators are in favor of higher staffing levels, but not without state or federal funding to hire and retain the appropriate level of staff. Others hope […]
As pandemic era waivers are winding down and the public health emergency (PHE) will eventually come to an end, CMS officials are urging nursing home leaders to begin getting used to no longer relying on the Covid-related flexibilities. “We are encouraging health care providers to prepare for the end of the flexibilities and begin to […]
The majority of nursing homes will not be able to take advantage of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) updated mask policy as many are still in high transmission zones for Covid-19. The CDC last month issued updated guidance that removed its blanket masking policy to better reflect vaccine efforts, infection-induced immunity and […]
As a flurry of regulations and mandates descend upon the nursing home sector, such changes could create legal obstacles, and suggest yet another difficult and onerous year for providers. Staffing mandates, the aftermath of the end of the public health emergency (PHE), Covid liability and the PREP Act, all create “existential threats” for skilled nursing […]
The nation’s highest court has declined to weigh in on a case involving a federal arbitration rule that nursing home industry groups argue places “burdensome” requirements on facilities. The U.S. Supreme Court denied the petition on Monday for a writ of certiorari in the case of Northport Health Services of Arkansas, LLC v. Department of […]
Nursing homes across the country are anxiously waiting for the federal government to approve temporary nurse aide (TNA) waivers just days before the program is set to expire. Massachusetts, Washington, Indiana and Louisiana have had their statewide waiver requests approved so far, but more than 10 states were still waiting for further information to be […]
Real estate investment trust (REIT) dealmaking for the rest of this year and into 2023 will largely be driven by the desire to deepen existing or secure new partnerships with skilled nursing operators that have “weathered the storm exceptionally well.” That’s according to Michael Segal, executive managing director and partner at Blueprint Healthcare Real Estate […]
A case to determine if state-owned nursing homes are shielded from federal lawsuits – to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in November – received more than 20 amicus briefs last week. The flood of briefs filed in September are in support of Ivanka Talevski, wife of former nursing home resident Gorgi Talevski, suing […]
In line with efforts to improve skilled nursing ownership transparency, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) said on Monday that it is making additional data publicly available for all Medicare-certified nursing homes. Licensing officials, state and federal law enforcement, researchers and the public will, for the first time, be able to identify common […]
Some nursing homes will be able to remove the blanket indoor mask requirements that have been in effect for the last two and a half years — with the exception of those in areas with “high” Covid transmission levels. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued the guidance late Friday, just one month […]
Testimony and questions at the recent congressional hearing on nursing homes’ performance in Covid-19 showed that the system is in desperate need of reform, and that the time for reports and study is over, according to LeadingAge President and CEO Katie Smith Sloan. “We need to start looking ahead,” Sloan told Skilled Nursing News. “My […]
The nursing home industry was thrust back into the national spotlight this week as federal lawmakers called out for-profit ownership for their lack of resources during the early months of the pandemic and confounding corporate structures. The Congressional Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, chaired by Rep. James Clyburn, held a hearing on Wednesday to […]
The five-star quality rating system has been a thorny issue for a lot of operators in the skilled nursing space, with many calling for a significant overhaul to quality metrics as facilities drown in seemingly endless federal benchmark adjustments. Even academics and consultants monitoring the sector believe the ratings system needs to be updated – […]
As Covenant Care shakes up its leadership team from top to bottom, its new CEO Nathan Ure is honing in on the skilled nursing operator’s clinical acumen. Taking a page from what is being done both in the state of California and what’s being requested by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Ure believes […]
Many investors have not shied away from the skilled nursing industry in spite of the ongoing labor shortages, rising costs and looming federal regulations consuming operators — and they don’t appear to be doing so anytime soon. Private buyers have continued to buy up the overwhelming majority of available assets, closing roughly $1 billion in […]