With the lowest vaccination rate among nursing home staff in the country, currently at 56.71%, Missouri’s health department is looking to provide operators some flexibility should they see a mass staff exodus ahead of President Biden’s vaccine mandate. The emergency rule, published on Friday, is meant as a precaution that will allow skilled nursing and […]
American Health Care Association
Ten states have sued the federal government this week in hopes of stopping a regulation that requires Medicare and Medicaid participating health care facilities, including nursing homes, to have all staff members fully vaccinated by early next year. The suit, filed on Wednesday by 10 states attorneys general in the U.S. District Court for the […]
With 14% of its workforce gone since the start of the pandemic, nursing home operators are constantly on the lookout for creative ways to bring in much needed caregivers. While some have looked overseas and advocated for an expedited visa process or immigration reform, other operators are calling on federal officials to step in and […]
Though home health care services and hospitals have seen their employment nearly recover to pre-pandemic levels, the same cannot be said for nursing homes. The sector has lost 221,000 jobs during the pandemic, or 14%, since March 2020, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data through October released last week. Mark Parkinson, president and CEO […]
While nursing home operators have largely relied on help from the federal government by way of the Provider Relief Fund (PRF) and other mechanisms to get through the COVID-19 pandemic, some leaders have found more success refocusing advocacy efforts to state legislatures for future funding. “When the stimulus bill came out and passed with trillions […]
As nursing homes continue to see a high turnover rate among registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and certified nursing assistants, operators continue to do anything they can to keep staff, including offering pay increases, incentives and educational benefits. Some leaders in the industry see the international staff pool as the sector’s best chance to get […]
While the long-term care industry continues to see labor shortage pressures impact day-to-day operations and, at times, hinder the ability to improve occupancy levels, the impending decline in the availability of family caregivers could present future growth for congregate care settings. “On the one hand it’s challenging to find that staff, but on the other […]
Some skilled nursing operators and industry advocates expected occupancy recovery from COVID-19 to occur by the end of 2021, but with the onset of the delta variant and staffing shortages worsening, the newest data shows that occupancy recovery won’t occur until early 2022 at the earliest. For Milwaukie, Ore.-based Marquis Companies, occupancy recovery delays have […]
Operators across the senior living spectrum are reporting better margins with nearly half, 49% of respondents, reporting that they expect margins to increase in the next six months, though skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) saw the slowest acceleration in move-ins in the past 30 days. While 31% of respondents anticipate an increase between 1 and 5% […]
After fighting COVID-19 in their facilities for 18 months, many nursing home operators were frustrated when they were informed in mid-August that a vaccine mandate would be coming into effect only for nursing home workers in the health care space. While that mandate has since been expanded to include all health care workers, the feeling […]
With the emergence of the delta variant and facility occupancy recovery slowed, it remains clear that the nursing home industry’s fight against COVID-19 is not over yet, American Health Care Association (AHCA) President and CEO Mark Parkinson said during opening remarks on Monday at the organization’s annual conference in Washington, D.C. In fact, Parkinson was […]
The need to consider offering at-home services may be accelerating for nursing home operators as the Choose Home Care Act of 2021 was introduced in the House of Representatives on Friday. The bill was first introduced in July in the U.S. Senate by Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Todd Young (R-IN). A bipartisan effort, the […]
As Medicare Advantage enrollment continues to climb and operators look for a seat at the table, ProMedica Senior Care President Angela Brandt believes now is the time to recognize the role long-term care facilities can play in value-based payment. “We all have to get comfortable with where we add value for the health care continuum […]
Despite the robust acquisition market currently seen in skilled nursing, Mark Parkinson, CEO and president of the American Health Care Association, believes the sector will continue to be dominated by independent operators. “I do think that you will see some independent owners [exit], but I don’t think it will be enough to change the fact […]
How long the next wave of Provider Relief Funds will last nursing home operators remains to be seen but American Health Care Association president and CEO Mark Parkinson expects it to be nothing more than a short-term fix for the industry. “It is at best a three month to six month solution if that,” he […]
In this Priorities, Plans & Perspectives interview, Skilled Nursing News sits down with Mark Parkinson, President and CEO of The American Health Care Association, to learn how he has optimized his organization’s effectiveness while maintaining focus on quality of care and resident experience. Read on to discover how Parkinson identifies opportunity amidst chaos, and what […]
Of 1,183 nursing home and assisted living providers surveyed by the American Health Care Association and National Center of Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL), nearly every nursing home is currently asking staff to work overtime or extra shifts and more than half are limiting new admissions due to staffing shortages. While the long-term ramifications of the current […]
As the Nursing Home Improvement and Accountability Act makes its way through Congress, two leaders in the long-term care industry this week said enhanced funding to support staffing in nursing homes is sorely needed coming out of the pandemic and that more transparency for where that funding goes would be welcomed. Mark Parkinson, president and […]
Recent announcements of three nursing home closures in Maine since the end of August have put a spotlight on what some have called the worst staffing shortage the sector has ever seen, as operators and advocates in the industry alike fear it could be just the beginning. While the announcement of the incoming fourth wave […]
Operators were left scratching their heads when the Biden administration “singled out” nursing home staff in its vaccine mandate, noting their residents are interacting with many more people — who don’t have such requirements — across the health care continuum. “Our residents go all over the place… 50% of our cases in the last month, […]
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