By HFT Staff

The staffing challenges that continue to trouble employers nationwide is causing chain reactions in healthcare that are affecting the ability of facilities in all areas of the sector to provide timely and effective patient care, according to the American Health Care Association. 

Nursing homes are facing a historic workforce crisis brought on by the pandemic. The sector has lost nearly 229,000 caregivers, or more than 14 percent of its workforce, since February 2020, the worst job loss among all healthcare sectors, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The lack of available staff has forced more than 60 percent of nursing homes nationwide to limit new patient admissions, impacting hospitals that are seeking to free up precious beds and preventing seniors from accessing the care they need.  

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For example, in Massachusetts, 1,066 patients from 44 different hospitals are waiting to be discharged – the majority of whom are waiting for nursing homes. Susan Misiorski, vice president of workforce development for the Massachusetts Senior Care Association, says up to 70 percent of the state’s nursing homes have denied new admissions because they’re short staffed.  

As nursing homes refuse to compromise the care provided, similar situations are occurring across the country. Facilities in New York, Idaho, Pennsylvania, Hawaii and Wisconsin, among others, are also limiting admissions due to staffing shortages. And the entire health care system as well as seniors and their families are feeling the domino effect.