Long-term care debate blames profit motive for suffering of older Kansas residents • Kansas Reflector

DeBoer, whose career in long-term care spanned three decades, said it has always been a challenge to find quality care in Kansas nursing homes.

“Staffing levels have always been difficult. The pay was too low. The competition was too much at times,” DeBoer said. “The fact that no one wants your business, period. I mean, no one really wants to go to a nursing facility, and yet they offer it because they can make money. Let’s just be honest. There’s generally a lot of money to be made in the nursing facility business.”

Russell pointed to a report on federal assessments that showed 80 of 300 nursing homes in Kansas are considered “problem facilities.” That number is “generous,” she said, meaning there are many more problems.

When you look at customer satisfaction, few say their nursing home is good, Russell said.

She said an estimated 13,000 early deaths a year nationwide are due to inadequate staffing levels in nursing homes. A new rule from President Joe Biden’s administration would require increased staffing requirements within three years. That means nearly 40,000 people could die before the requirement takes effect, she said. And many more will suffer as a result.

“What about the multitudes of people living in squalor, abuse and neglect because they don’t have adequate staffing?,” Russell said. “These people are making money. This is a profit center and they are making profits while their customers are in misery, abused, neglected and dying.”

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach joined 19 other states in filing a lawsuit challenging the new rule. The lawsuit claims new staffing requirements “pose an existential threat to the nursing home industry as many nursing homes that are already struggling will have no choice but to go out of business.”

Russell said the same companies that claim they can’t find more staff or can’t afford more appear to have no trouble finding staff when they open new facilities. Providers aren’t interested in increasing their workforce, she said, because recruiting is their biggest cost: “They’re not going to make as much money.”