Post-Acute

A story about unvaccinated nursing home employees at a Kentucky facility sparking a COVID-19 outbreak was Becker's most-read post-acute story in 2021.

Nursing homes are scrambling to administer COVID-19 boosters to residents as cases are on the rise amid the omicron variant, The Hill reported Dec. 19.

The Ohio House of Representatives passed a bill allotting $300 million in federal money to pay direct care workers in the state's nursing homes, Cleveland.com reported Dec. 9.  

Citations issued to nursing homes, even those for serious offenses, can be appealed to a special federal court in an informal dispute resolution process, which operates "almost entirely in secret," according to a New York Times investigation published Dec. 9.

Advocates are urging CMS to reinstate mandatory federal training requirements for nursing aides working directly with nursing home residents, citing safety concerns, Bloomberg Law reported Dec. 10. 

The owner of California’s largest nursing home company is facing a lawsuit with more than 142 complaints alleging one of his nursing homes is responsible for the COVID-19-related deaths of 24 residents, San Jose Inside reported Dec. 8. 

Minnesota plans to use $3.5 million in federal funding in a new tuition reimbursement program to train and deploy 1,000 nursing assistants into long-term care facilities by Jan. 31, the Hastings Star Gazette reported Dec. 6.

An Iowa nursing home cited in October for 18 federal and four state regulatory violations is now facing at least $685,000 in fines, the Iowa Capital Dispatch reported Dec. 3. 

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul deployed 60 National Guard teams to nursing homes throughout the state to relieve staff shortages and rising COVID-19 infections, Lohud reported Dec. 1.

Wisconsin offers the strongest protection against elder abuse in the U.S., according to an analysis released Dec. 1 by WalletHub, a personal finance website.