CDC may be overestimating COVID-19 vaccination stats for older adults, state officials and experts say
By
Alicia Lasek
Dec 13, 2021
The agency’s online tracker currently shows that 99.9% of U.S. seniors have been at least partly vaccinated against COVID-19. But this sky-high figure is almost certainly not accurate, observers...
Providers embracing reprieve as staff vaccine deadline passes unenforced
By
Kimberly Marselas
Dec 09, 2021
Skilled nursing providers with large shares of their workforce still unvaccinated nearly a year after COVID-19 vaccines first became available are breathing sighs of relief across the country this week.
The big reveal
By
Julie Thorson
Dec 08, 2021
If this is the first time you are reading this Living Leadership blog, you are in for a treat. At the beginning of 2021, I took on a challenge I never imagined would be so fulfilling. It was a gift to...
If you give the staff a livable wage…
By
Eleanor Feldman Barbera, Ph.D.
Dec 07, 2021
The longstanding story of long-term care staffing is that organizations can’t afford to increase the salaries of their workers due to Medicaid reimbursement deficits, rising expenses, tight margins and...
Volunteering opened my eyes to the plight of our LTC system
By
Colleen McConnaha
Dec 06, 2021
Several weeks ago, I began volunteering as a care assistant at a nursing home that is part of the system my husband works for. It has been a rewarding, eye-opening, and somewhat concerning experience that...
With billions in Medicare provider cuts looming, Congress stalls on solution
By
Danielle Brown
Dec 06, 2021
Medicare providers stand to lose more than $36 billion in reimbursements next year, a fate that looks more likely after Congressional leaders failed to stop slated cuts as part of a spending deal last...
Is it permanent? SNF pressures mount even as providers try to recover from COVID-19, financial instability
By
Danielle Brown
Dec 03, 2021
Skilled nursing facilities could be facing a severe, financially unstable future as operators try to adjust to lower patient volumes and a shift toward home care, according to Forbes columnist Howard Gleckman.
One incontestable pandemic truth
By
Gary Tetz
Dec 02, 2021
Though I strongly support the concept of gratefulness, I’m not much for delivering public speeches about it, even to close friends or family around the Thanksgiving table. Truth be told, I generally...
Providers told to prepare for Monday’s vaccine deadline despite mandate injunction
By
Danielle Brown
Dec 02, 2021
Meeting Monday’s first-shot deadline for the federal government’s healthcare worker vaccine mandate is in nursing homes’ best interests, despite a temporary injunction that halted the rule nationwide...
It takes a Village
By
John Andrews
Dec 01, 2021
Smith Village in Chicago listened to its residents and jumped fully into the movement of increasing private rooms in skilled nursing and rehab spaces.