The worst of the deadly health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic may be behind us, but nursing homes across the state continue to be ravaged by the financial fallout.
In the past two years, five nursing homes have closed and many more are in danger of doing so. According to the American Health Care Association, a stunning 87% of Rhode Island nursing homes are in financial trouble. As this week’s cover story reports, that risk percentage is the highest in the nation and up from 19% in 2019.
There’s hope among industry advocates that state lawmakers this year will finally raise insurance reimbursement rates to better cover the costs of care and to pay caregivers more. With almost 2,000 job openings now in the local industry, state leaders would be all but guaranteeing more closures by not raising rates.
A related issue looming over the local industry is how minimum staffing levels due to be implemented this year will be handled. Labor unions insist higher minimum staffing is needed to improve conditions for workers and residents alike. But facility operators say that without a significant cash infusion, they won’t be able to afford to boost staffing and also pay workers more.
What about the roughly $1 billion in available federal pandemic aid the state has been sorting through requests for? Industry leaders have asked but aren’t hopeful, given the more than $7 billion in requests the state has received.
But it is hard to imagine an industry more in need right now of just the kind of financial lifeline the federal pandemic aid was intended for.
