Lawmakers highlight staffing, spending at big nursing home companies
Democratic lawmakers, in response to the new federal minimum levels, sent letters to three large chains of nursing homes questioning their spending levels and staffing ratios. In Wisconsin, 3 out of 5 homes are said to need to hire more staff.
USA TODAY: Nursing home staffing and spending questioned by Democratic lawmakers
Three US senators and two US representatives have criticized the corporate spending of the Big Three nursing home companies amid industry opposition to a Biden administration rule setting minimum staffing levels. In letters sent Sunday to executives of the three big chains, Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Richard Blumenthal and Reps. Jan Schakowsky and Lloyd Doggett questioned nursing home spending on executive compensation, stock buybacks and dividends as the industry navigates a new Opposing opposition. Staffing rules for nursing homes. (AltCar, 5/6)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 3 out of 5 Wisconsin nursing homes required to hire more staff under new rule
Most nursing homes in Wisconsin will need to hire more nurses or nursing assistants to meet minimum staffing requirements recently announced by the federal government, an order that some nursing homes worry will expose them to the COVID-19 pandemic. Will struggle amid increased staffing challenges. … “This is the most significant nursing home reform in decades,” said David Grabowski, a professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School. “We need more staff in nursing homes.” (Wolpenhain, 5/6)
More news about health care workers –
Crain’s Chicago Business: UChicago Medicine residents vote to form union
Medical residents and fellows at the University of Chicago Medicine voted in favor of forming a union, following in the footsteps of their peers at other academic medical institutions in the city and across the country. Of more than 1,000 residents, 98% voted to join the Committee of Interns and Residents, or CIR, a division of the Service Employees International Union and the largest group representing physicians in residency and fellowship programs in the country , the union announced today. (Davis, 5/6)
CBS News: Minnesota nurses union rallies against proposed cuts at North Memorial Health
The Minnesota Nurses Association plans to speak out Monday afternoon against proposed cuts to services at North Memorial Hospital and its clinics. North Memorial officials announced cuts that will eliminate the outpatient mental health program and two neonatal intensive care units at North Memorial Health in Robbinsdale, leaving more than 100 employees unemployed. (take, 5/6)
Houston Chronicle: Embattled Houston surgeon warns of threats to transplant program
Houston transplant surgeon Dr. J. Steve Bynon, who has been accused of improperly altering patients’ records, has expressed frustration at the inability to improve the stomach transplant department he oversaw several years ago and recently criticized the program for ” “major threats”, according to his personnel file from UTHealth Houston obtained through an open records request by the Houston Chronicle. (Gill and MacDonald, 5/6)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Washington U. appointed epidemiologist to the School of Public Health
The University of Washington is starting a new school dedicated to public health and has hired a Boston University epidemiologist to lead it. The new school will be WashU’s first in nearly a century, and will study a topic that has been at the center of the national debate for the past four years. It is expected to launch in fall 2026. (Merilyse, 5/6)
The Washington Post: She worked in animal research. Now he has been barred from commenting on this.
An animal rights activist is embroiled in a court battle with the National Institutes of Health to block her online comments on NIH research using monkeys. (Weiner, 5/6)
Columbus Dispatch: Ohio doctor who said COVID vaccines made people magnetized gets medical license back
The Ohio State Medical Board reinstated the medical license of a doctor who spread conspiracy theories about COVID-19 vaccines, including the false claim that they make people magnetized. The board voted last month to reinstate Dr. Sherry Tenpenny’s license after suspending her license last year and fining her $3,000. State officials said Tenpenny refused to cooperate with their investigation after the board received 350 complaints about him. (Bemiller, 5/6)
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