4 minute read
Collaboration for the Win
from JHC March 2022
the pandemic, have left long-term care providers struggling to compete for qualified staff.
Parkinson said, “We desperately need the help of policymakers to attract and retain more caregivers so that our nation’s most vulnerable have access to the longterm care they need.”
Why workers are leaving
To put it simply, long-term care providers are exhausted. As we have seen over the last two years, when a workforce is understaffed, it creates a trickle-down effect throughout the whole industry. Longterm care facilities have trouble with staffing workers, which creates an unnecessary strain on those who are working, which further perpetuates this cyclical nightmare of exhaustion that so many are experiencing right now.
Cristina Crawford, Senior Manager, Public Affairs for the American Health Care Association, said, “This pandemic has taken an enormous toll on our staff and residents. Not only have many experienced tremendous losses, but it has also been exhausting – physically and emotionally – battling this virus day in and day out.”
Essential workers are dropping left and right. Additionally, Crawford described long-term care providers as “chronically underfunded,” which limits any sort of competitive edge they would need to hire new people. Crawford said they “cannot compete with other healthcare settings, like hospitals, that can offer better pay and benefits.”
This isn’t a new issue. Long-term care has faced staffing challenges for years, and the pandemic has only made it worse. Crawford said, “Workforce recruitment and retention has been an ongoing challenge prior to the pandemic, and we have been calling for help for years. Now, the pandemic has exacerbated our workforce challenges, and we are in a full-blown crisis.”
The effects on the residents
When healthcare workers suffer, the patients suffer. Without a stable option in place, residents and families are often left to find care alternatives that are less
than optimal. Losing these workers is a dangerous prospect for the residents and patients of long-term care providers.
“The workforce crisis threatens access to care for vulnerable seniors,” Crawford said. “More than half of nursing homes are limiting new admissions because of staffing shortages.” Not only are the families put in a difficult position regarding the safety and care of their loved ones, but hospitals are unable to discharge patients if there are no long-term care options available. This also perpetuates the vicious cycle with COVID surges.
It’s also important to remember that this isn’t a problem that’s going to resolve itself. There will always be an elderly population that will need to be cared for, whether there are places to provide that care or not. “If policymakers do not act, the consequences will be devastating and could result in nursing home closures, which will ultimately affect access to care that our nation’s seniors need and deserve,” Crawford said.
The path forward
For long-term care providers to begin the road to recovery, Crawford said they would need immediate assistance from
federal and state public health officials to support the frontlines and prioritize resources for long-term care providers. Crawford also argued for a long-term solution to “help recruit and retain the next generation of caregivers and to prepare for a growing elderly population.”
“Policy makers must act and support the multi-tiered workforce proposals we have put forth in our reform agenda, the Care for Our Seniors Act,” Crawford said. “These proposals include assistance programs for caregivers like affordable housing and childcare, tax credits, loan forgiveness, and incentives for higher learning institutions to train the next generation of healthcare heroes.”
State and federal policy makers also need to do things like fully fund Medicaid, which would allow long-term care providers to invest in their workforce and have a competitive hiring edge. “The strategies laid out in the Care for Our Seniors Act offer a comprehensive approach to recruit more health care heroes to help solve this workforce crisis,” Crawford said.
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