Nursing back to health: The case for setting safe staffing ratios in nursing homes

The COVID pandemic killed more than 15,000 of New York’s nursing home residents, more than 15% of the 100,000-plus folks living in the facilities. Contrary to Gov. Cuomo’s claims over many months, fatalities among residents totaled about 30% of all COVID deaths statewide.

Having more nurses and nurses’ aides might not have been able to prevent many of those deaths, but there’s overwhelming evidence that requiring more nurses inside New York State’s 617 nursing homes could help improve and prolong residents’ lives going forward.

Residents are often aging or frail, with minor medical problems. They need a regular supply of skilled, attentive care from staff who can also help with quotidian tasks like washing, getting dressed and eating.

A wealth of independent studies, along with a 2001 federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services report, have conclusively determined nursing home residents’ health outcomes correlate strongly with staffing levels. Despite that data, New York has, for years, declined to join the ranks of the 38 other states that have enacted laws requiring minimum numbers of professionals.

A majority of New York’s 617 nursing homes, increasingly run by for-profit operators, are understaffed — with levels of care well below the CMS recommended minimum 4.1 hours per resident, per day. Only 50 New York nursing homes earned the feds’ highest nurse staffing rating.

The Safe Staffing Act, a bill Albany lawmakers introduced years ago to enact mandatory staff ratios in not just nursing homes but also hospitals statewide, has languished because it was too broad. So state Sen. Gustavo Rivera, with approval of Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, smartly split the bill in two.

One bill sets mandatory nursing home staff levels at 3.5 hours of nursing care per resident, per day. The Legislature should pass that bill and Cuomo should sign it.

Separate legislation requiring hospital administrators and staff to agree on coverage plans for their facilities, without prescribing set staff ratios, won’t accomplish much, but probably won’t hurt much either.

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