Editorial -- As WCCC is Hiring, Many Facilities are Sedating Residents

As the Worth County Care and Rehab Center is hiring staff and seeking to treat every one of its residents as individuals, many corporate chains are taking the opposite approach.

There was a deeply disturbing article in MarketWatch recently which estimates that around 24,000 additional nursing home residents will be sedated just to keep them under control as a result of the defeat of President Joe Biden’s staffing mandate.

This is because corporate chains are finding that it is cheaper to sedate residents rather than hire enough staff to treat residents as individuals or pay them a living wage so that they can keep good employees.

The staffing mandate would have required skilled facilities to have roughly one nurse for every 10-12 residents during the day and one nurse for every 15-20 residents at night.

The MarketWatch article notes that a recent study found that lower staffing levels and increased anti-psychotic medication use are directly related and that for-profit nursing homes are especially prone to under-staffing and sedative overuse.

Other consequences include increased risk of neglect and abuse, higher rates of hospitalization, adverse health outcomes, and lower quality of life.

This creates a serious liability issue for nursing homes, such as wrongful death suits, malpractice suits, and a negative reputation for the whole industry. Both our grandmothers were adamant in their later years that they did not want to go to a nursing home.

By contrast, a facility like the Worth County Care & Rehab Center doesn’t need Joe Biden or Donald Trump to tell them to do the right thing. It is locally owned and operated by the taxpayers of this county and controlled by a board representing all sections of the county. Board positions are elected seats.

Sometimes, we take for granted the facility that we have in this county, which is one of Worth County’s biggest employers. Not too long ago, the facility was in a financial crisis, there were shouting matches at board meetings, and they were near the end of the rope in reserves. The facility had an emergency election at one point in which it was a choice between either passing a levy or closing the doors.

Now, the Worth County Care & Rehab Center has $1 million in the bank, finished the recent fiscal year with a healthy surplus, and felt comfortable enough with the financial situation to give its employees a 3% raise and a financial incentive bonus. The census has fluctuated a lot, but after dropping from the 30’s into the teens following COVID-19, it is back up into the high 20’s. We hear many positive comments from residents and people in the community about the high level of care.

Based on our observations, Orilla’s Way is the same way. They put on a fun day where kids came and drew art, blew bubbles, played on the swings, and met the residents. They also brought in Tucker Owens to do a music concert.

But there is always a temptation to take things for granted. The facility and others like it apparently dodged a bullet in recent legislation targeting Medicare; reimbursements for skilled facilities were not affected. But there is a lot of uncertainty with the current administration, which has shown a willingness to freeze funding or close governmental agencies on a whim. We will oppose any cuts which affect our way of life.