Nursing home administrators spent 20 percent less time on-site in recent years, group claimsAccusations that nursing home administrators are spending 20% less time with residents and on-site miss the mark, said two people who closely observe top...

Nursing home staffing in severely disadvantaged neighborhoods is significantly lower than staffing in more well-off neighborhoods, according to a new study in which the LTSS Center participated.

There was a stark, though not at all unexpected, dichotomy between participants in Monday’s listening session to gather input on coming nursing home staff minimums.

On the one hand, you had consumer advocates — armed with the Biden administration’s aggressive reform push and 20 years of resentment about perceived understaffing — ready to throw fuel on the fire.

And on the other, there were nursing home leaders from major organizations, mid-sized chains and tiny, independent facilities in rural settings pleading with federal regulators to douse the flames.

Where a resident advocate might see the potential for more staffing rules to help nursing homes rise from the ashes of COVID, providers are legitimately worried that a well-intentioned but under-supported mandate might just burn the sector down for good.