Nursing Home Executive Pay Raises Called Out During Fight Against Minimum Staffing Rules

The lack of qualified staffing in nursing homes has been a persistent area of concern for residents and their families. This issue spurred action by the Biden administration to establish new rules for nursing home facilities that accept Medicare and Medicaid payments (which is nearly all of them).

According to reporting by USA Today, “the new rule requires nursing homes to provide each resident a minimum of 0.55 hours of care from a registered nurse and 2.45 hours from a certified nursing assistant every day.” Based on those requirements, “only 160 skilled nursing facilities out of about 14,500” would have met the new requirements.

As expected, many nursing homeowners are balking at these changes because of the associated higher operating costs. However, that resistance does not align with the recent reports of nursing home executive pay raises. These raises caught the attention of several members of Congress who are asking for an explanation as to why a nursing home has the funds to pay their executives but does not have the money to hire qualified staff, per the political news site The Hill.

According to the USA Today story, the Congressional representatives targeted three leading nursing home chains. This is what they want answers to:

• National HealthCare Corp. spent more than $210 million on stock buybacks and dividends and $26.5 million on executive compensation.
• Ensign Group spent $145.2 million on stock buybacks and dividends and $144.8 million on executive compensation.
• Brookdale Senior Living spent $67.7 million on stock buybacks and dividends and $48.9 million on executive compensation.

Why Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Happens

When you transition a loved one into a nursing home, you are putting your trust in that facility to provide a level of care. Those standards should be spelled out in the contract you enter into with that assisted living facility.

Unfortunately, that contract is not always as binding as it should be. Here are some of the reasons why nursing home neglect happens:

Inadequate Staffing

As mentioned above, the lack of sufficient staff at a nursing home is a leading contributor to neglect. When there aren’t enough nursing or other care employees, a resident can be ignored or not adequately tended to with regard to clean bedding and clothing.

Negligent Hiring

An unintended consequence of filling staff at a nursing home is negligent hiring.

In a rush to get someone on the job, the management of a nursing home could hire an individual who is not qualified to care for the residents. There might also be issues with criminal background checks that are overlooked when filling staffing quotas.

When a new hire is not fully vetted, it could mean that a caregiver with a history of abuse or neglect toward residents gets hired.

Poor Training

After a new staff member is hired at a nursing home, they should undergo rigorous training. Without that, the new hire could be making up protocols and procedures just to get through the day. They might also cut corners in providing proper care, which could harm your family member because no one is telling them otherwise.

These are examples of red flags to look for when considering a nursing home for your loved one.

What To Do If You Suspect Abuse at an Assisted Living Facility

If you suspect your loved one is suffering from some form of abuse, perhaps due to staffing issues, you need to document it and speak with an experienced attorney who handles these types of complaints.

While this may ultimately result in you needing to file a complaint against the facility, the support and guidance legal counsel can provide you with can prove invaluable as you look to protect your loved one from further harm.