BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN/AP) – A Western New York nursing home leader said the staffing issue at senior care centers has existed long before the coronavirus pandemic and said a solution to the ongoing nursing home issues needs to come in a variety of ways.
Chris Koenig, President of the Niagara Lutheran Health Systems and The Greenfields in Lancaster, said more people need to be available to work in nursing homes.
“It’s not just a function of wages, it’s really about the number of people in the workforce,” Koenig said. “When I’ve spoken to people at the state on workforce development committees with Governor Cuomo, some of the things they think is that there’s not enough facilities to take students, so colleges can’t take any enrollment. But when I talk to people at the college, they say they can’t take more enrollment because they don’t have any doctoral-trained nurses to teach to allow for an increase.”
We spoke to Koenig shortly after the Associated Press highlighted that neglect at nursing homes is contributing to nursing home deaths, in part, due to staffing shortages and overburdened workers.
Chronic understaffing at nursing homes has been one of the hallmarks of the pandemic, with a few homes even forced to evacuate because so many workers either tested positive or called in sick. In 20 states where virus cases are now surging, federal data shows nearly 1 in 4 nursing homes report staff shortages.
“The staff we do have working for us, they’re going through difficult times as well,” Koenig said. “Essential workers really need not just praise, but everything everybody else is getting. They’ve been coming to work and getting no extra stimulus money. One of the things that I think a lot of them appreciate is their relationship with their residents.”
Karla Abraham Conley, a Utica woman whose mother, Rosemary, died last month in a nursing home, is advocating on behalf of families who were in a similar situation as her. Her mother died over what she believes is neglect regarding her care. She wants better pay for nursing home workers, who typically make minimum wage job but must deal with adults with diseases like dementia.
“The staff ratio per resident is astronomically large here,” she said. “They’re not paid enough money. Our aides, CNAs, and our nurses are not paid nearly enough to substantiate what they do. You get people who just need a job and go in there and don’t really care. That job is not cut out for every single person. You have to have the compassion and the desire to really help these elderly people.”
But paying workers more might not solve the issue, according to Koenig.
“You can increase wages all you want,” he said. “Stimulus money will only help pull from other facilities until they can then pay more than you. It just creates this back-and-forth with no end in sight to create expenses that will never match revenues and are just not sustainable. We have to figure out how to get more nurses in the workforce.”
That’s where the pandemic has exacerbated the staffing issue. Koenig said many students can’t train for their clinical hours due to the visitation restriction.
Koenig said the government can help by creating a more career opportunities in the nursing home industry.
Hear more of our conversation with Koenig below:
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