Nathan Schema, president and CEO of the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society, was surprised to see hospitals able to keep their waivers in place while nursing homes are left to figure out worker shortages in a time crunch.
“That differentiation strikes me because, as we all know, in this industry, we’ve been on the front lines and we are serving some of the most vulnerable people throughout the pandemic,” Schema told Skilled Nursing News. “Disproportionately calling out [nursing homes] and rolling back these waivers at a time when we’re still reeling and coming back from such an extraordinary experience … that just seems off to me.”
“To have those waivers changed maybe within 30 or 60 days, it still feels too short,” Schema said. “We were hoping we’d have a little bit more time to get on the backside of this before things ultimately changed.”