Long-term care struggles to rebound to pre-pandemic staffing levels: analysis

Staffing in long-term care dropped drastically at the start of the pandemic and is unlikely to rebound to pre-pandemic levels until 2027. That’s according to a recent analysis of US Census data by the American Health Care Association / National Center for Assisted Living. 

Another threat hampering skilled nursing’s rebound to pre-pandemic staffing levels, AHCA/NCAL said, is the federal government’s proposed staffing minimums. Almost all respondents (95%) to an association survey in December said that they were concerned about being able to meet a staffing minimum of 4.1 hours of care per day per resident being floated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

“Government staffing mandates will not solve the core issue here. We need a concerted, collective effort with proper resources and incentives to help recruit more individuals to work in long-term care,” Holly Harmon, RN, AHCA/NCAL’s senior vice president of quality, regulatory and clinical services, said in a statement issued in conjunction with the December survey results.