Natural gas leak near facility highlights the importance of planning
By
Stan Szpytek
Jul 14, 2021
Incidents like the one that is about to be summarized emphasize the importance of hazard analysis as required by the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services Emergency Preparedness Rule. Knowing the potential...
Lawmakers must address nursing home workforce crisis to ensure quality care
By
George Linial
Mar 08, 2021
Before COVID-19, Texas nursing homes reported the worst staffing shortages in the nation. Texas projected we will be 60,000 nurses short by 2030, and that demand in nursing homes would double between 2015...
Nursing homes’ raw deal during COVID-19
By
Bill McGinley
Apr 15, 2020
On their best days nursing homes start out behind the eight ball. Underfunded and understaffed, they care for the most physically needy and vulnerable among us. Generally, they are paid about 70% of the...
Vaccination nation
By
Jean Wendland Porter
Aug 11, 2021
Last week an insurance adjuster came over to scope out some storm damage. Anyone who enters my home must be vaccinated or wear a mask (I keep clean masks at the front door. I’m nice like that). If...
How SNFs are cutting costs without cutting back on care
By
Betsy Rust
Jun 29, 2018
As if managing the health of patients wasn’t difficult and time-consuming enough, skilled nursing facilities now have to do more to manage their increasingly complex businesses as well.
Long-term care heroes needed to help critical blood supply shortage
By
Teri Sumbry
Mar 10, 2018
Every two seconds, someone in the United States needs blood, but this year a massive nationwide shortage is putting lives at risk. In response to this dire situation, the nation’s long-term care...
Listening is a vital responsibility, dangerously deficient in too many caregivers
By
Martie Moore
Jun 29, 2023
The fifth time I told my story of why I was here, I wondered if I needed to change it to make it more interesting. Except I was in the emergency department and needed to be seen by someone. Next...
The lessons of the tree
By
Martie Moore
Nov 17, 2023
I first noticed the tree in the heat of a summer day. The expansive branches provided welcoming shade as I moved from meeting to meeting. There was a bench next to the tree, and on any given day, couples,...
If not us, then who?
By
Julie Thorson
Oct 12, 2022
I can’t remember the date. I don’t remember what was happening at the time. What regulation changed, who tested positive, what family was upset, what team member was infuriated, or what system had...
Are value-based payments the best CMS can do for nursing home residents? A call for stronger action
By
Marissa Bergh
Nov 04, 2022
America’s nursing homes are in crisis, and the government has been complicit. In the past 2 and a half years, COVID-19 has killed more than 158,000 nursing home residents. These facilities, filled with...