Have you ever felt your nursing home struggles are totally blind to the general public?
For those dealing with frustrated families trying to find a place for their loved ones, I think their “surprise” at learning about the lack of nursing home beds is a reminder that warnings about your level of access are often deaf.
Now, new rankings for the state based on “Access to high quality nursing homes” threaten to drown your concerns even more.
In part, the ranking appears to demonstrate access using Medicare bed count and occupancy data. Whether these beds are empty due to understaffing without the necessary context to determine whether they are actually available.
Above the list is California, with over 1,200 nursing homes. Last year, the state has seen quality providers, including Kaiser Permanente and Little Sisters from the poor sister sector. It aims to promote higher staffing and increase refunds for quality outcomes despite the new state funding ceremony launched in 2023.
Pennsylvania ranked third on the list of Caredemy, a training and education company that compares data on care lists, bed counts, staff quality and health test scores.
Pennsylvania is getting very high, according to a press release from Caredemy because of “the quality of staffing and high availability of nursing home beds.” Yes, staffing levels are high at face value, and new state requirements for the number of aides and nurses have been hired throughout this fiscal year.
The only problem is that these rules are costly and not always allowed for workers to hire. They have contributed to hundreds of beds being filmed offline and closed, local nursing home executives say.
Here's how Zach Shamberg, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Healthcare Association, characterized his access to the state at last week's House hearing on Medicaid fundraising:
“More than 30 nursing homes across the state have been closed since 2019. Dozens have filed for bankruptcy. There have been a lot of restructuring and ownership changes, as care for seniors in Pennsylvania is like trying to walk around the escalators.”
If that is the third best state condition for access to our nursing home, I hate to imagine the laying of the 50th land (the standard for care deeds, it's West Virginia).
The bottom line is to promote the message that everything will be fine for outsiders (and potential patients) no matter how you measure access. – It doesn't help you gather resources in times of crisis.
Caredemy actually tries to protect the caregivers employed to train them by saying they “work tirelessly to help older people in need.”
“Their dedication and compassion are invaluable, but they require more support. Increased funding, better staffing and stronger surveillance are essential to ensure that all seniors receive the care they deserve,” the company's statement said.
Combining that with the understanding that only four out of 50 states have won over 70 (out of 100) to access high quality care, you get closer to the actual message lawmakers and the public needs to see.
