ROCHESTER — LeadingAge Minnesota, a professional association representing 1,100 aging services organizations in the state, has joined 20 other state-level networks in a lawsuit against federal staffing standards finalized earlier this year.
In April, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency that inspects and certifies long-term care facilities, announced new regulations for nursing home staffing to “hold nursing homes accountable for providing safe and high-quality services.” announced a final rule phasing in new requirements. -High-quality care,” CMS said in the announcement.
The final rule establishes new standards for direct care hours for residents. This is 3.48 hours per resident day, defined as the total number of nursing staff hours worked divided by the total number of residents.
If these changes go into effect, their implementation will be phased in over the next few years, but Leading Age Minnesota will require the state to hire full-time registered nurses and certified nursing assistants to meet the requirements. It is estimated that an additional 1,000 people will be needed.
“Essentially, what CMS has done is a departure from the standard we have had in place for years, which is to allow nursing homes to staff according to the needs of their residents.” said Kari Thurlow, Minnesota President and CEO.
One of the big issues for the association, Thurlow said, is the long care hours required by RNs and CNAs compared to those of other staff, such as certified nurses.
“(It) really devalues the role of other direct staff, such as LPNs and TMAs (Trained Pharmacy Assistants), and will ultimately undermine the overall There's really very little consideration given to how to achieve staffing standards,” Thurlow said.
Overall, Thurlow said there is concern that the additional staffing requirements, combined with workforce shortages in the long-term care sector, will “really put a large number of nursing homes under pressure.”
“The vast majority of Minnesota nursing homes will not be able to meet the three key elements of the rule,” Thurlow said, meaning those facilities could be subject to citations and fines for violations. He said there is. “They are already financially vulnerable, so in that situation they actually face the prospect of closure.”
By joining a lawsuit filed Oct. 8 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa, Thurlow seeks to overturn the final rule and seek a preliminary injunction blocking implementation of the new requirements while the litigation proceeds. He said his goal was to release it. .
“In doing so, we will reset the table on public-private partnerships with CMS and our state partners to find real solutions for quality care,” Thurlow said, adding that more people Investing in career training programs is necessary to hire successful long-term care workers.
Concerns about the new CMS requirements are echoed by Samaritan Bethany, a nonprofit long-term care and senior housing provider in Rochester.
“We share a desire to strengthen our workforce, but CMS’s final rule on minimum staffing does not address the root cause of the problem,” said Kayla, Samaritan Bethany Joint Mission Leader. Berg said in a statement to the Post. “At this time, we have several beds on hold and are unable to operate additional beds due to staffing issues. The impact of the CMS final rule may further increase the number of beds on hold. , which may reduce our ability to serve residents of the Rochester community. ”
Many portions of the final rule currently do not take effect for at least two years. Phase 2 of the rule (3.48 HPRD of care and 24/7 RN presence) will take effect in May 2026 for urban nursing homes, with other changes scheduled to take effect through 2029 .
