Why A Federal Staffing Mandate Won’t Work For Georgia’s Nursing Homes
Georgia nursing homes are doing everything they can to recruit and hire a skilled workforce. As the owner of Health Management, which operates four nursing homes in Houston and Bibb counties, I am all too familiar with the challenges and complexities that come with recruiting and hiring staff. In the last three years, the demand for our services has far outpaced the supply of qualified workers we need.
In many rural areas, there are simply no workers with the needed skills. In more populated areas, nursing homes are competing not only with each other but also with hospitals and doctors’ offices. The aftermath of the pandemic compounded the problem, as many dedicated nurses left the profession and did not return.
To combat this, nearly all long-term care facilities are taking extraordinary measures to recruit and retain staff. At Health Management, we have raised salaries more than once, provided full healthcare benefits, including dental and vision, and even included free meals and flexible schedules. Despite these efforts, positions are still unfilled.
Read the full op-ed from James Magazine Online here.
