The Missouri Veterans’ Home in Mount Vernon, Missouri, on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. JEFFERSON CITY — A new federal regulation championed by Vice President Kamala Harris will require more nurses to be hired in the state’s nursing homes for military veterans.
According to a budget request submitted by the Missouri Veterans Commission earlier this month, a rule implemented in June by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services requires an increase in the amount of hours nursing homes residents receive each day.
The additional care will cost an estimated $3.8 million to hire 78 additional nursing employees at the chronically underfunded agency.
But, commission officials say the increase in personnel won’t result in a significant boost in residents served by the homes, which are located in Bellefontaine Neighbors, Mexico, St. James, Warrensburg, Mt. Vernon, Cameron and Cape Girardeau.
“Complying with the rule will not increase the number of available beds,” spokeswoman Aimee Packard told the Post-Dispatch. “We are requesting additional team members to ensure MVC meets guidelines regarding patient to staff ratios.”
Although the nursing homes are licensed to be able to take in a total of 1,238 residents, the current census at the facilities stands at 809. If lawmakers approve the request for additional funding, the agency says it can serve up to 984 residents, representing about 79% of the potential capacity, Packard said.
The current number of residents is up from a low of 666 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new rules announced in April by Harris , now the Democratic presidential nominee, come after the pandemic revealed glaring problems in nursing home staffing levels across the nation. Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris waves to supporters at a campaign event Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, in Madison, Wis. Along with requiring that 80% of Medicaid payments for nursing home providers go toward workers’ wages, the new rules call for staffing equivalent to 3.48 hours per resident per day, with an estimated half an hour of it coming from registered nurses.
Packard said the agency currently distributes nursing personnel to account for 2.5 hours per resident per day, which is the minimum […]
New federal rules force Missouri to hire more nurses at state veterans homes