The pace of move-ins slowed notably in January in long-term care facilities offering higher levels of care, according to National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care Senior Principal Lana Peck said, citing results of Wave 37 of the NIC’s executive survey. The change presumably is due to the rise in the omicron variant, she said.
The Wave 37 survey includes responses from Jan. 10 to Feb. 6 from owners and executives of 78 small, medium and large seniors living and skilled nursing operators from across the country, representing hundreds of buildings and thousands of units across respondents’ portfolios of properties. Owner/operators with one to 10 properties comprise 47% of the sample. Operators with 11 to 25 properties and 26 or more properties make up the other half of the sample (31% and 26%, respectively).
Fewer organizations with memory care units and/or nursing care beds reported an acceleration in the pace of move-ins since the previous survey (21% versus 33% for the nursing care segment and 34% versus 49% for the memory care segment), Peck wrote Thursday.
Respondents with nursing care beds indicated that staffing challenges, fewer hospital discharges due to COVID-19, and the holiday season contributed to the pace of move-ins slowing, she added
Move-outs
“While the pace of move-ins slowed during the omicron surge, residents were not leaving out the back door of communities at the same rates that they did earlier in the pandemic,” Peck wrote.
Move-outs largely were unchanged from the previous survey, with 70% to 80% of organizations reporting no change, depending on the type of facility. Three-fourths of the respondents that reported changes indicated that residents who moved out did so to move to higher levels of care.
Lead volumes have not returned to pre-pandemic levels. Just 32% of the respondents said that their lead volumes are currently at pre-pandemic levels. According to Peck, this “may be a leading indicator to watch with regards to occupancy recovery.”
Staffing
Not surprisingly, staffing shortages don’t seem to be going away. Eighty-one percent of participating organizations with multiple sites reported staff shortages in more than half of their properties — up from the 46% reported in last March’s Wave 24 survey. Operators (97 to 100%, depending on type) are making up the loss with overtime hours. Seventy-nine percent of respondents said they are using agency or temporary staff. Of those, one-half of organizations are using agency or temporary staff to supplement nurse aides, and approximately 40% are backfilling nurses.
“Considering [Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services] data, for the week ending January 23, 2022, approximately 30% of nursing care properties reported shortages of nurse aides, 28% reported nursing staff shortages and 18% reported shortages of other staff,” Peck wrote.
