Minnesota governor activates National Guard to support skilled nursing facilities
By
Kathleen Steele Gaivin
Nov 24, 2021
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) is activating the state’s National Guard to form skilled nursing “response teams” that will provide support to facilities experiencing worker shortages. He also is proposing...
Long-term care industry brings workforce shortage issue to Senate committee
By
Kathleen Steele Gaivin
Feb 17, 2023
“A shortage of healthcare personnel was a problem before the pandemic, and now it has gotten worse,” Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said Thursday...
Bill seeks to fund 350 new service coordinators for affordable housing, more
By
Kathleen Steele Gaivin
Sep 19, 2022
The Expanding Service Coordinators Act, introduced Thursday by Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) would authorize funding for at least 350 new service coordinators, provide funding for training, require a Government...
Long-term care leaders urge White House to intervene in anticompetitive staffing agency practices
By
Kathleen Steele Gaivin
Jan 27, 2022
Leaders from the country’s largest long-term care associations on Tuesday asked White House COVID-19 Response Team Coordinator Jeffrey Zients for “assistance with an anticompetitive practice with certain...
Decades-old CNA training lockout would change under re-introduced bill
By
Kathleen Steele Gaivin
May 16, 2023
A two-year lockout on certified nursing assistant training programs in skilled nursing facilities with deficiencies would be lifted under certain conditions if the bipartisan Ensuring Seniors’ Access...
Long-term care, other business groups find exclusion from federal vaccine mandate process ‘disappointing’
By
Kathleen Steele Gaivin
Sep 30, 2021
As the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration works to develop and issue a rule for a vaccine and testing mandate announced earlier this month by President Biden, some business...
$80M federal program to boost nursing training
By
Kathleen Steele Gaivin
Oct 06, 2022
The Department of Labor will beef up its Nursing Expansion Grant Program with $80 million in grants, the department announced Monday.
Immigration restructuring could ease long-term care workforce crisis, industry coalition tells State...
By
Kathleen Steele Gaivin
Nov 22, 2021
Prioritizing immigration visas for nurses, waiving immigration visa interviews and expanding in-person interviews to allow for virtual interviews would help address workforce challenges facing long-term...
Providers need ‘meaningful aid,’ groups say as president unveils executive order
By
Kathleen Steele Gaivin
Apr 19, 2023
Building a pipeline of professional caregivers and then retaining them in long-term care are some of the goals of an executive order signed Tuesday by President Biden. Provider groups responded by calling...
Workforce issues a theme of State of the Union address and industry reaction to it
By
Kathleen Steele Gaivin
Feb 09, 2023
Several workforce issues were part of President Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday — as well as long-term care industry reaction to the speech. The talk comes at a time when long-term care...