The federal government could soon dictate staffing levels at nursing homes. Arizona is home to143 federally regulated facilities.
On Friday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid released a proposed rule that seeks to establish comprehensive staffing requirements in nursing homes.
The rule would require nursing homes to provide three hours of direct care per resident, per day. Facilities would also have to have a registered nurse on staff 24 hours a day.
David Voepel is the CEO of the Arizona Health Care Association, which represents the state’s nursing homes.
"When you drill down into the nursing home side of things where we are woefully underfunded, it's another unfunded mandate. And when you get to the rural areas, it's even worse, because it's very difficult to find an RN that you can have for all three shifts," he explained. "They can't find the nurses. You go to a lot of small towns, whether it's someplace like Show Low or Camp Verde or, or name a small town that has a nursing home in it. And I will guarantee you that they are looking for nurses, 24/7. The people aren't there."
Currently other staff, including certified nursing assistants, cover some of those shifts. Meanwhile, some resident advocacy groups say the proposed rule is inadequate.
Exempt from this rule are Arizona’s 3,000 assisted-living facilities since they are not federally regulated.
