Literature Review

‘Profound’ financial, workforce challenges persist for senior living providers as 2024 beginsMcKnights Senior Living, by Lois Bowers; 1/2/24Senior living operators will continue to face inflationary pressures and capital market challenges in 2024, but some effects may lessen before the year is out, according to industry experts.

Lawsuit—Minnesota’s free training hurt nursing assistant schoolsStar Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)December 26, 2023A group of nursing assistant training schools has sued Minnesota, saying their business has been undercut by the state’s free training program. With its no-cost training for would-be nursing assistants, Minnesota’s two-year-old Next Generation Nursing Assistant training program has been hailed as a solution to the state’s worsening health care labor shortage. But providers left on the outside of that program say they have struggled. 

Labor activity in long-term care may be poised for ‘enormous’ growth in 2024McKnight’s Long Term Care NewsDecember 21, 2023Heightened union activity frequently made headlines this year, including among healthcare workers who loudly raised concerns about pay and staffing. Multiple factors make it likely that the trend of rising labor activity in long-term care will continue in 2024, experts say. 

Nursing home complaints up 38% since last yearSouth Dakota Searchlight, 12/21/23Complaints against South Dakota nursing homes are the highest they’ve been in at least eight years. The state Department of Health oversees 97 long-term care facilities, according to its website, It fielded 54 complaints as of Dec. 19—a 38% increase over 2022 and three times higher than 2021 and 2020, when the state received 18 complaints each year. Most complaints in 2023 concern quality of life and care, neglect and abuse, and nursing services. In just over two-thirds of the cases, inspections found no violations. Of the complaints deemed credible, many involved a lack of adequate care and documentation for residents after a fall or change in health condition.

Unlicensed Saratoga County nursing home operator to pay $650,000Times Union (Albany, NY)December 21, 2023Ballston Spa, NY—The unlicensed operator of a now shuttered Saratoga County nursing home is set to repay Medicaid $656,000 after an investigation by the state attorney general’s office and U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York found years’ worth of fraud and resident neglect at the facility. 

Healthcare organizations hiring, retaining more employees—FitchModern HealthcareDecember 20, 2023Hospital employment numbers have increased, while healthcare job openings are on the decline—though the industry is still recovering from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. About 17.2 million individuals were on the payroll at healthcare organizations in November 2023, compared with 16.6 million in December 2022, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

Nursing homes still face data concerns, new audit saysTimes Union (Albany, NY)December 20, 2023Albany, NY—The state Department of Health largely failed to implement recommendations meant to improve infection control in nursing homes, according to an audit released by the state comptroller’s office on Wednesday. The audit came as a follow-up to a March 2022 audit by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office that found data released by the Health Department “misled the public” and undercounted deaths in nursing homes. 

ProPublica Adds Ownership Information to Our Nursing Home DatabasePro PublicaDecember 20, 2023The quality of care that residents receive in a nursing home can be profoundly affected by who owns it, studies have shown. It’s not always clear who should be held accountable, though: Many nursing homes are owned by companies that are owned by other companies, obscuring who has the ultimate decision-making power. ... To help navigate the confusing world of nursing home ownership, ProPublica’s Nursing Home Inspect now publishes detailed ownership information for facilities and an upgraded search to help you sift through the information. 

CNA Turnover Linked to Scheduling Choices, Staff Stability, Optimal Hours WorkedSkilled Nursing NewsDecember 19, 2023Part-time certified nursing assistants play a crucial role in providing patient care at skilled nursing facilities mired with staffing shortages, and yet they face high turnover rates. Washington State University analyzed the impact of scheduling decisions on part-time CNA turnover, addressing three key research questions related to hours worked and coworker variability. ... The study revealed a “U-shaped relationship” between hours worked and turnover—meaning too few hours or too many hours worked impacted turnover.

Leading Rural PACE Provider Coming to Northeast OhioNews ReleaseDecember 18, 2023Erie, PA—One Senior Care, a leading PACE provider to rural and Appalachian communities, is proud to announce that its program, LIFE-Northwestern Pennsylvania, has been selected by the Ohio Department of Aging to bring the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) to three counties—Ashtabula, Trumbull, and Mahoning—in Northeast Ohio. 

In study ranking ‘best’ states for elder care, providers might be surprised to learn the winnerMcKnights Long-Term Care News, 12/15/23By Josh HenrecksonA new study judging quality and access to elder care ranked all 50 states and named Iowa the top state in the country. ... California was the bottom-ranked state ... The top 10, in order, were: Iowa, Oklahoma, Missouri, Louisiana, South Dakota, Kansas, Montana, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Nebraska.

Nursing home COVID deaths climb, but vaccinations move slowly upward tooMcKnights Long-Term Care News, 12/15/23By Kimberly MarselasDeaths of nursing home patients from COVID-19 climbed as vaccination rates hit new lows last month, according to an updated analysis by the AARP Public Policy Institute and the Scripps Gerontology Center. ... But vaccinations, at first widely embraced by residents and later mandated for healthcare workers, drove infection and deaths rates down dramatically starting in 2021.

Iowa Democrats, advocates call for hearings on nursing home care and oversightIowa Capital DispatchDecember 14, 2023Iowa Senate Democrats on Thursday called on the GOP-controlled Senate Oversight Committee to launch a bipartisan investigation into Iowa’s nursing homes. Calling it “a matter of life and death,” Sen. Claire Celsi, D-West Des Moines, the ranking member on the committee, formally requested the investigation in a Dec. 14 letter to committee chair Sen. Amy Sinclair, R-Allerton.