Organizations Representing Wisconsin Nursing Homes Concerned About New Staffing Requirements

Tuesday, February 20th, 2024 -- 9:00 AM

(Hope Kirwan, Wisconsin Public Radio) Organizations representing Wisconsin nursing homes are concerned proposed staffing requirements will place new strains on facilities that are struggling to recruit and retain workers.

But, according to Hope Kirwan with Wisconsin Public Radio, some experts say industry change is needed to best serve residents in long-term care. Last fall, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, announced a proposed rule to establish minimum staffing levels for nurses and nurse aides at long-term care facilities.

The rule would also require that a registered nurse be onsite at all times. CMS said in a fact sheet in September that the changes are “necessary at this time to protect resident health and safety and ensure their needs are met.”

“Despite existing requirements that facilities provide sufficient levels of staffing in (long-term care) facilities, chronic understaffing remains a significant concern,” the publication said. CMS collected public comment on the proposed standard last fall and has yet to finalize a new rule.

Kathryn Brod, chief executive officer for industry group Leading Age Wisconsin, said the proposal has raised many questions among nursing home leaders in the state.

“Those staff are coming from where?” Brod said. “And we’re going to pay them how? The third question would be: Is this going to increase the quality of the care that we provide? We don’t believe that one size fits all staffing ratios guarantee quality.”

Brod said long-term care facilities have faced workforce challenges for years, which she said is due in part to the undervaluing of older adults in the U.S. She said the COVID-19 pandemic made the shortage of workers even worse.

She said the nursing homes that belong to her organization have said they’re already turning people away who need care because there isn’t enough staff. And the industry is likely to face more challenges as the state’s population continues to age.

“With the demographic curve that’s coming, we need to be innovating how to bring quality with fewer people,” she said.

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