Legislation to block the federal minimum staffing proposal for nursing homes reached a milestone today, passing in the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee. The Protecting America’s Seniors’ Access to Care Act (H.R. 7513) was first introduced by Rep. Michelle Fischbach (R-MN) and would prevent the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) from finalizing […]
Category: Staffing
Bernie McGuinness has spent three decades in the nursing home industry, rising from a certified nurse aide (CNA) to reach the pinnacle as former CEO of Majestic Care. But the road for McGuinness has hardly ended there. Now, he is venturing into ownership with Journey Skilled Nursing. McGuinness, president and CEO of Journey, sat down […]
Despite ongoing investments from operators, the nursing home industry is struggling to rebuild its workforce and recover from the pandemic. Meanwhile, operators are concerned that the federal minimum staffing proposal, once finalized, will make operational challenges worse even as nursing homes limit admissions and are concerned about closures. Such findings were outlined in the American […]
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is recommending that the federal government bolster its support to nursing homes – including through policies that help strengthen the workforce – in order to improve quality of care. In its latest report, which draws upon lessons learned during the pandemic, OIG lays forth a set of five […]
The year ahead for Sabra Health Care REIT (Nasdaq: SBRA) presents a “terrific” opportunity for improved margins and potential dealmaking, with eyes on multiple asset classes, according to Sabra CEO Rick Matros. While the California-based real estate investment trust (REIT) has focused in the past couple years on diversifying its portfolio – namely adding behavioral […]
Survey backlogs have caused headaches for nursing homes, and Delaware is one state that is using third party contractors to successfully drastically reduce the backlog in a move that is being applauded by nursing home operators. Delaware contracted with Healthcare Management Solutions to help clear its backlog of nursing home and assisted living surveys, doubling […]
Following significant leadership changes recently at PACS Group, new initiatives are afoot at the nursing home giant as it continues to expand its footprint. To discuss these endeavors, Skilled Nursing News sat down with the new leadership at PACS, whose affiliates operate more than 200 facilities in nine states – 58 of these acquired in […]
Pricing for nursing home care continued to grow the fastest in the first month of 2024 compared to other major health care categories, jumping by 4.9% in January, as wages grew but job growth lagged. That’s according to Altarum’s Health Sector Economic Indicators (HSEI) Briefs published on Tuesday. Nursing home care was among service prices […]
Mark Parkinson, CEO and president of the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL), on Tuesday announced plans for retirement after 13 years with the association, and leading its members through the pandemic. Parkinson plans to stay on until Jan. 15 of next year, as the association launches its search for […]
Soaring costs associated with skilled nursing – and problematic payer sources – are making it harder for continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) to provide such labor intensive post-acute care. CCRCs have to ask themselves some hard questions when it comes to what services they can reasonably offer, and if it’s worth it to keep open […]
Vermont, New York and Maryland led the nation in terms of the share of nursing homes utilizing agency nursing staff in 2022. That’s according to a Health Affairs report published Wednesday. The study authors compared free-standing nursing homes’ usage of agency staff in the years leading up to Covid-19 with usage of agency staff during […]
The volume of non-compliant fines quadrupled in the post-pandemic period between 2020 and 2022, with a staggering 36,370 such fines being issued to nursing homes, costing the industry a total of $560 million nationwide, according to the 2024 Marcum Three-Year Nursing Home Statistical Review. The high cost to the sector from fines was despite the […]
Over one-third of healthcare workers, including nursing home workers, have needed to take a break at some point. These pauses, often driven by burnout and overscheduling, exacerbate the already significant workforce shortages plaguing the industry because many workers leave the workforce permanently. According to a new report from ShiftKey released Tuesday, of particular concern is […]
As Omega Healthcare Investors Inc. (NYSE: OHI) advanced on its restructuring efforts at 2023’s end, company executives said that they were finally able to have a better grasp on their outlook for 2024. And, while the company’s current fundamentals were looking strong, the looming federal staffing mandate might obscure the path forward for the sector […]
CMS isn’t expected to finalize the minimum staffing proposal until the summer at the earliest, with the agency having to wade through more than 40,000 comments before moving forward with the rule. The voices of skilled nursing providers, along with coalition partners like the American Hospital Association, will hopefully have been heard by CMS and […]
The nursing home industry led the health care sector in wage growth while prices for skilled nursing services grew at the fastest pace at the end of 2023. Meanwhile, employment growth slowed to a crawl in December despite a desperate need to bolster the nursing home workforce. This is according to Altarum’s Health Sector Economic […]
Nursing home owners and advocates have long decried low Medicaid reimbursements to the sector across the U.S. And now leaders in New York state – home to one of the largest number of facilities – are uniting to forcefully demand change. Much like the rest of the country, closures, especially in Upstate New York, have […]
As nursing home operators rethink workforce initiatives in the midst of recovering from the pandemic’s devastating labor losses and a looming federal minimum staffing proposal, it’s crucial to listen to what nurses need from their employer and what they hope to see from the sector in the future. Workforce success in 2024 may lie in […]
The Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) is undergoing changes that could help operators bolster their workforces with better trained direct care workers and improve the career ladder for certified nurse aides (CNAs). The Moving Forward Coalition, an organization engaged in enhancing the quality of care at nursing homes, held a presentation on the latest updates […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) officials are looking to finalize the nursing home minimum staffing proposal in 2024, an official at the federal agency confirmed at its national stakeholder call on Tuesday. Dr. Dora Hughes, acting chief medical officer and director of the Center for Clinical Standards and Quality (CCSQ), said, “The […]
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