ANOTHER VIEWPOINT: Pandemic exposes low nursing home staffing

<p>The novel coronavirus shouldn’t be a death sentence for Hoosiers living in long-term care facilities. But for many of them, it has been.</p><p>Twenty-six percent of nursing home residents who’ve tested positive for COVID-19 have died of the disease, according to Indiana State Department of Health statistics through Aug. 19. That’s nearly nine times the overall coronavirus death rate statewide.</p><p>Residents of long-term care facilities accounted for at least 60% of the state’s 3,041 COVID-19 deaths reported through Wednesday.</p><p>While many of those living in long-term care facilities have health concerns that put them at high-risk, the substandard staffing levels of some nursing homes clearly contribute to residents’ susceptibility.</p><p>When the crisis struck, some nursing home employees left their jobs rather than risk infection, and the pool of workers offered by temporary employment agencies began to dry up. Continual measures to disinfect and safeguard the facilities, coupled with the needs of ill residents, dramatically increased workloads for overburdened staffs. As a result, resident care suffered.</p><p>An investigative report by Whitney Downard, CNHI Indiana statehouse reporter, painted a troubling picture of staffing shortages.</p><p>Two-thirds of Hoosier long-term care facilities reporting 50 or more resident coronavirus cases have below-average staffing ratings of one or two stars out of five, the CNHI article noted. It cited federal government reports based on information provided by the Indiana State Department of Health.</p><p>Complaints to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration point to “skeletal” staffs and employees required to work double shifts. OSHA has looked into at least 31 complaints against Indiana nursing homes since the start of the pandemic.</p><p>Even before the pandemic, many Indiana long-term care facilities were understaffed. The Indianapolis Star reported this year that the state ranks 46th nationally in nursing home staffing.</p><p>While the pandemic has exposed and exacerbated the problem, the underlying causes include low employee pay, difficult working conditions and inadequate government resources to help pay for elderly care.</p><p>“At the root of the problem is the fact that two-thirds of residents in a typical nursing home are on Medicaid, which pays very low rates for long-term care,” Tamara Konetzka, a health economics and health services research professor at the University of Chicago, told CNHI News Indiana.</p><p>U.S. Sens. Todd Young and Mike Braun of Indiana, along with the state’s nine-member congressional delegation, should lead the charge toward better support of long-term care through Medicaid.</p><p>The state of Indiana shoulders blame for low staffing at long-term care facilities, as well. The state department of health should have cracked down on nursing homes with low staffing before a public health crisis like the pandemic hit. Instead, many homes had not been inspected for 18 months or more.</p><p>State lawmakers should review oversight of Indiana nursing homes, establishing new rules and earmarking additional funds for inspections as needed.</p><p>Without such reform at the state and federal levels, the next public health crisis could bring a death sentence for more of Indiana’s most vulnerable residents.</p><p><em>Send comments to <a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>.</em></p>