A federal judge Monday threw out a national nursing home staffing mandate, quickly shifting providers into considering how they’ll use their freedom from inflexible requirements to rebuild and modernize the workforce.
Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk of the US District Court for Northern Texas found in favor of four nursing homes, the American Health Care Association and LeadingAge, ruling that a 24/7 requirement for registered nurses exceeded the authority of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
“Our stance has always been clear: Imposing mandates rather than addressing funding adequacy and workforce sufficiency is wrong-headed,” said LeadingAge President and CEO Katie Smith Sloan, who was hosting an opening reception when news broke.
At the Good Samaritan Society, the nation’s largest nonprofit provider of nursing home services, President and CEO Nate Schema told McKnight’s Long-Term Care News he expects staff in positions from leadership to the frontlines to breathe a sigh of relief now. Rural towns of 500 to 1,000 people served by Good Sam will also now be able to rest easier knowing their neighborhood nursing home is out from a dark cloud.
Read more from McKnight’s Long Term Care News
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