TAMPA, Fla. — This week the White House finalized a plan that would require nursing homes that receive Medicare and Medicaid funding to provide at least three and a half hours of care per resident and requires defined periods for registered and nurse aides.
The goal is to help with an ongoing shortage of care in nursing homes in the U.S.
The federal mandate would crack down on inadequate nursing home care, but to do that, many facilities would need to staff at a higher level based on resident needs.
For example, Florida would need to fill more than 3,000 jobs, according to the Florida Health Care Association.
For over 20 years, taking care of the elderly has been Christopher Tetrault’s passion.
As a nursing home administrator, it’s meant long hours for and the constant battle to help fill positions.
That’s one reason why he says this new mandate has him getting out of the industry.
“My grandparents were very important in my upbringing and being around their friends. I just loved the elderly,” said Tetrault. “There is a staffing shortage as it is and to try to keep raising the bar for operators it makes it near impossible for them to be successful.”
He believes this mandate could help get residents the care they need, but without a way to attract nurses, it is only more difficult for those already employed.
It’s the changing rules in the industry that have led Tetrault to start his own business with his wife.
It’s an opportunity to still help the elderly but in a different way.
Through his business, My Care Finder Tetrault says “we actually help people to find assisted living, independent living and nursing home placement.”
Although it’s meant stepping away from nursing home facilities, Tetrault says it’s for the best.
“I definitely have no desire to work in that industry because it doesn’t seem like it’s getting any better,” he said. “It’s just getting harder and harder.”
Working to help the elderly in a different way, Tetrault hopes others will see what changes need to be made.
Florida Health Care Association spokesperson Kristen Knapp says since the pandemic they’ve seen a slow recovery in the labor force and the need for more health care workers will mean they’ll be competing against hospital to meet the federal mandate.
“When you’re putting these unfunded mandates on these facilities and you are not able to meet those staffing requirements, where are we going to find these people? And what will be the penalties enforced?” she said.