Nursing home leaders have routinely pointed to staffing shortages as a top operational challenge, even in the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, the public health emergency has even further exacerbated the hiring challenges operators face. Those challenges were quantified recently in a Health Affairs study that examined pre-pandemic payroll-based journal (PBJ) data […]
Even as the nationwide vaccine rollout eases the clinical crisis in U.S. nursing homes, operators across the senior living spectrum are reporting the highest levels of agency staffing use and overtime pay since the pandemic began — indicating that the longstanding workforce crunch in the sector only has only continued to worsen. That’s according to […]
With skilled nursing facilities facing significant staffing shortages amid the ongoing fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, a group of lawmakers and operators called for making it easier to retain temporary nurse aides hired during the public health emergency — with one major operator reporting 1,500 unfilled jobs in the state of Pennsylvania. Luke Pile, vice […]
More than half of health care workers in nursing homes and assisted living facilities believe that their bosses haven’t done enough to boost their pay to account for the elevated risk of sickness and death during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new survey has found. About 58% of such respondents to a recent Washington Post/Kaiser Family […]
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed structural issues from top to bottom in the infrastructure of long-term care in the U.S., from infection control to staffing levels to SNFs’ role in the health care system. But one solution would address, if not eliminate, a multitude of those problems, according to a range of operators, consultants, and frontline […]
The COVID-19 emergency overturned nursing home operations overnight in almost every respect, notably with regard to the provision of clinical care. And according to a panel of physicians who work in the nursing home setting, some of those changes should stick around, even after the public health emergency finally comes to a close. Namely, they […]
For nursing home staff who are hesitant about taking a vaccine for COVID-19, data and information may not be the most effective way to address their concerns, according to a report published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The report, published on March 25, used a series of 26 town hall meetings from […]
The success of the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in long-term care facilities is becoming apparent by the week, as COVID-19 cases among residents were — as of February 28 — the lowest they have been since May of last year. Occupancy, though not rising remotely in proportion to the decline in new cases, has started […]
Vaccine hesitancy among nursing home and senior living workers has substantially declined since the first shots received emergency approval last December, according to a new industry survey. About 62% of post-acute and senior living workers polled by software firm OnShift indicated that they would be willing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, up from 32% in […]
In the investment and finance side of skilled nursing, “regional” is commonly cited as a strength for an operator; the idea is that a strong presence in a concentrated geography allows for better relationships with hospitals and referral partners, physicians, and the community generally. But thinking regionally goes beyond the financial well-being of a facility, […]
The nation’s nursing homes have shed 182,000 jobs since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in February 2020, according to a new analysis, a significant drop for a sector that struggled to keep facilities fully staffed even in pre-COVID times. That works out to an 11.5% drop between February 2020 and the end of last […]
COVID-19 cases in nursing homes have plummeted since the vaccination effort shifted into gear at the end of December, dropping by as much as much as 82% by the start of March. With the immediate crisis starting to abate, SNF operators are now faced with a daunting task: determining what comes next, and what the […]
One of the scarcest resources in any workplace setting is time, and for nursing homes, one of the casualties of this scarce resource tends to be the position of infection preventionist. This usually takes the form of adding the duties of an IP to an already existing role in the nursing home workplace, and in […]
The clinical effects of COVID-19 on the skilled nursing world have been apparent since the start of pandemic, and roughly a year into the public health emergency in the U.S., firm data about the financial health of the space is emerging — particularly as stimulus funding for providers remains uncertain. For the Georgia-based operator PruittHealth, […]
When emergency use authorizations (EUA) were granted to two COVID-19 vaccines in December 2020, health care workers and residents in long-term care facilities were granted first priority for the shots — and a federal partnership to vaccinate nursing homes kicked into gear. By January 25, most nursing homes participating in the Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term […]
Officials in New York last November began working to launch a handful of nursing homes designated for COVID-19 patients only — after a firestorm of criticism for a directive in the spring of 2020 that sent COVID-19 patients to any nursing home at all. The Manhattan campus of the New Jewish Home in became one […]
The vaccination efforts against COVID-19 that began in late December have begun to bear fruit in the form of steep declines of new COVID-19 cases and deaths among nursing home residents, one of the largest nursing home trade groups reported Tuesday. And with new cases dropping by 82% among nursing home residents — who have […]
Even before COVID-19, the median staff turnover at U.S. nursing homes was nearly 100%, with even less continuity at facilities with lower federal star ratings, a new study has determined. Workers turned over at a median rate of 94% and a mean rate of 128% in 2017 and 2018, according to an analysis published this […]
Therapist staffing coverage at nursing homes fell up to 10% after the October 2019 implementation of a new Medicare payment model, a new study has determined — with the cuts coming primarily on the backs of contracted employees and not full-time skilled nursing facility staffers. Physical and occupational therapist staffing was 6% lower in the […]
The day-to-day operations of running a skilled nursing facility, were upended by the COVID-19 pandemic — along with the core business model of post-acute and long-term care in America. For many operators, the pandemic has exposed the flaws and systemic challenges of the space, both on the regulatory and operating sides. And as cases continue […]
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