Viewpoint: Support assisted living communities' workforce
By 2030, one out of every five people living in Indiana will be a senior citizen, according to population projections released by the Indiana Business Research Center. This projected increase represents an unprecedented number of elderly individuals in our state.
Silver Birch Living is a growing family of premier affordable assisted living communities that promote wellness, convenience and community with nine locations across Indiana, including on in Mishawaka. Our hard work recently earned our locations a 2023 Commitment to Quality Award from the American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living.
To continue to provide this quality of care, I joined my industry colleagues during a congressional briefing in Washington to advocate for strengthening the assisted living industry, including the workforce.
We met with several Indiana lawmakers and their staff, collaborating with them to support policies that would bolster the quality of care for seniors as they age.
Lawmakers we met with included: U.S. Rep. Erin Houchin, U.S. Rep. Frank J. Mrvan, U.S. Rep. Greg Pence, U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz and U.S. Sen. Todd Young.
A primary focus of our conversation was presenting how the proposed nursing home minimum staffing requirements through the Unfunded Staffing Mandate Proposal will not solve the health care labor crisis, but exacerbate it.
As we recognize National Assisted Living Week, it’s important to recognize how these proposals will negatively impact the industry.
Almost 900,000, or one-fifth of RNs, intend to leave the profession by 2027, according to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. And there’s no pipeline of new nurses to replace them.
Enrollment in nursing programs decreased for the first time in more than two decades last year. Meanwhile, the changing demographics of the country demonstrate that with a rapidly growing elderly population, we won’t have enough younger people to care for them in the future.
Just recently, the Biden administration released its recommendation on nursing home staffing ratios. The proposed rule would require each resident to get 33 minutes of care a day from a registered nurse. It also would mandate that at least one RN be working at a facility 24 hours a day. The comment period for the proposed rule goes until Nov. 6.
As AHCA/NCAL President and CEO Mark Parkinson put it best in a letter to President Joe Biden, “A skilled and available workforce is the industry's biggest challenge.”
It’s obvious, the federal minimum staffing mandate sounds like a good idea, but in practice, it is not.
Staffing issues can lead to closures and the elimination of key services. According to SaveOurSeniors.org, 500 facilities already have shuttered their doors since 2022.
The reason? “Often due to an inability to find workers,” cites the report.
For communities like Silver Birch, accepting Medicaid is a huge benefit for our residents, yet poses additional challenges from a workforce standpoint.
“Facilities that primarily care for residents on Medicaid won’t have the resources to recruit staff or pay for this mandate,” Parkinson wrote. “Those facilities, as well as those who they serve and employ, will be hurt the most.”
I am thankful for the productive conversations we had with Indiana’s congressional leaders, and it was refreshing to see their level of knowledge and engagement for senior programs.
However, both at the state and federal levels, there remains an urgent need to further support the assisted living communities' workforce, so we can provide the quality care our aging population needs.
Jo Ellen Bleavins is the president and CEO of Silver Birch Living, which has nine locations across Indiana, including one in Mishawaka.