Staffing requirements for nursing homes create more ‘red tape’ at North Shore Health
President Joe Biden used his State of the Union speech in March to launch a major overhaul of nursing home quality, including minimum staffing levels for settings such as the Care Center at North Shore Health in Grand Marais.
The cornerstone of Biden’s nursing home plan is a new requirement for minimum staffing levels. He’s ordering the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to conduct a study on staffing and publish proposed regulations within a year, the Associated Press reports.
White House officials last month outlined more than 20 separate actions, many of them sought by advocates and opposed by the industry.
Among those opposed are LeadingAge Minnesota, the largest association of organizations serving the state’s seniors. During a meeting of the Cook County Hospital District Board on March 24, North Shore Health Administrator Kimber Wraalstad shared a statement from LeadingAge Minnesota about the White House Initiative. The statement reads: “Government plays a vital role in solving our workforce crisis, but one thing is clear: more regulations won’t help us attract the skilled, compassionate workforce we need to care for the growing number of seniors. We need partnerships and a commitment to fund meaningful, permanent wage increases and a genuine commitment to grow the pipeline of caregivers – not just red tape and more punitive processes.”
WTIP’s Joe Friedrichs spoke with Wraalstad about the new federal approach to nursing home care, including requirements focused on minimum staffing levels. Audio below.
Joe Friedrichs March 31, 2022
