In an eight-year stretch, 645 nursing facilities in the U.S. closed, the number of nursing facility residents dropped 12% and the average number of hours residents received declined 9%, a KFF analysis found.

The Minnesota Department of Health will hold a public hearing the evening of Jan. 17 regarding the planned closure of Sanford Bemidji (Minn.) Medical Center's inpatient rehabilitation unit.

Ascension Living, part of St. Louis-based Ascension, has entered an agreement to sell its 250-bed nursing home in Lewiston, N.Y., to a private group, The Buffalo News reported Jan.5.

Ellsworth, Maine-based Seaport Village Healthcare, a skilled nursing, rehabilitation and assisted living facility, has submitted a closure plan for its skilled nursing facility to the state's Department of Health and Human Services, a spokesperson for the state DHHS confirmed with Becker's. 

A new California law is taking effect that requires nursing homes to offer residents copies of any information that explains why they are being evicted, calmatters.org reported Jan. 2.

Ludlow-based Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Western Massachusetts filed a $6 million proposal with the state to expand its hospital, the Boston Business Journal reported Jan. 2.

Lifespan Vanderbilt Rehabilitation Center at Newport (R.I.) Hospital was reaccredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities International, Providence Business News reported Dec. 31. 

One resident is still missing and looters have ransacked the building after the largest nursing home in St. Louis closed abruptly Dec. 15.

Viviant Healthcare of Murfreesboro (Tenn.) is closing its doors for failing to meet Medicare and Medicaid health and safety requirements, according to a CMS notice of termination release Dec. 12. 

Six days after the sudden closure of St. Louis-based Northview Village nursing home — forcing the transfer of 185 residents — officials with the St. Louis City Senior Fund announced they will allocate $174,000 in aid for the residents.

The largest nursing home in St. Louis closed abruptly, leaving about 100 workers without their last paycheck and moving 170 residents without notifying their families, The New York Times reported Dec. 19.

Skilled nursing facilities identified eight pressure points about which they are most concerned, a recent Ziegler survey found.

Bonuses and having a positive culture and employee appreciation were the top strategies skilled nursing facilities used to retain staff, a recent Ziegler survey found.

Nursing home deaths attributed to COVID-19 were four times higher in November than they were in June, according to new data from AARP. 

Roughly 83% of skilled nursing facilities reported seeing improvements in occupancy rates since the COVID-19 pandemic, with 36% reporting significant improvements, a recent Ziegler survey found.

Upwards of 2,000 individuals in assisted living facilities have been left unattended and wandered away on their own since 2018, and 100 of those individuals later were found dead, according to a Dec. 17 report from The The Washington Post.

Brentwood, Tenn.-based Lifepoint Health is seeking to build a 50-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Howard, Wis., Fox 11 News reported Dec. 15. 

The lack of rehabilitation facilities and post-discharge care is causing financial and operational burdens for hospitals as well as decreasing patient safety and outcomes, Robert Glatter, MD, an emergency physician at New York City-based Lenox Hill Hospital, and Peter Papadakos, MD, professor of anesthesia and critical care at the University of Rochester (N.Y.) Medical Center, wrote in a Forbes article.

Alla "Al" Wazwaz was appointed CEO of Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Modesto (Calif.).

Nursing home groups and advocates are criticizing CMS' proposed nursing home standards for not allowing licensed practical nurses to count toward the requirements, Bloomberg Law reported Dec. 11.