With mounting financial strain and residual challenges from the COVID pandemic, Connecticut’s nursing facility closures and healthcare sector layoffs are turning into a long-term care disaster.
In Connecticut, one in three people will have to stay in a skilled nursing facility for a while. But the rate at which those facilities have been closing is concerning.
According to Matt Barrett, CEO of the Connecticut Association of Healthcare Facilities, “an emergency is emerging.”
The fact that nursing facility closures have surpassed those nationwide is alarming because Connecticut has the fifth-oldest population. Fifteen skilled nursing institutions have closed since 2021.
An additional 236 resident beds, or 40% of Bristol’s capacity, were eliminated just last week when Sheriden Woods and Countryside Manor filed for closure.
“There’s simply no way to gloss over how significant this news is,” Barrett stated. “There’s a real serious question on the horizon about whether there are enough nursing home beds now and into the future to meet the care needs of our exploding aging population.”
In Connecticut’s nursing facilities, 87% of the beds are occupied. That is higher than the 79% national average. Every closure puts more strain on the system and care quality as the state gets closer to capacity.
According to a recent research, there is at least one shortcoming in 99% of the state’s approximately 200 nursing homes.
Abbott Terrace in Waterbury was effectively forced to close by the federal government in October after it was determined that the establishment “failed to meet minimum health and safety standards.” In the meantime, the industry is still having trouble recovering from the COVID-19 outbreak.
“There are definitely trends associated with the public health emergency that continue to show their presence and facilities are continuing to struggle,” Barrett stated.
In addition to facilities, businesses are having difficulties. Athena Healthcare was the biggest operator of nursing homes in the state just two years ago. There are now just six houses left. “Evaluating options to support continued operations” is what the corporation stated it is doing.
A “high Medicaid population, staffing challenges, the age of the facilities, and rising operational costs” are among the reasons given by operator Athena Healthcare for the closure.
“Some buildings are not found to be viable because it’s very expensive for other owners to come in and if they are bought, the owner coming in needs to bring it up to current public health code, which can also be very costly,” Mairead Painter, the Connecticut long-term care ombudsman stated.
Over half of the state’s assisted living facilities are older than fifty years.
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“I really think we need to have small nursing homes somewhere between 30 and 60 beds,” Painter stated.
In the meantime, Medicaid is used by 73% of nursing home residents in Connecticut, and the payment rates have not increased in line with inflation.
“If we are using taxpayer dollars it should be 100% transparent. There shouldn’t be anything we don’t see or know how it’s spent and profiting off of that is a tough one for me,” Painter continued.
With new legislation, state lawmakers stated they will prioritize nursing facilities in the upcoming session.
DSS stated that the two nursing homes in Bristol that are in danger of closing are under a 10-day cooling-off period during which they are not required to take any action. A public hearing will then take place, and they have up to 180 days to reach a conclusion.
