Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently extended protections for the nursing home industry from COVID-19-related liability lawsuits, in addition to reducing the amount of resident care the facilities are required to provide residents. According to Professor Nina Kohn, this is a dangerous step in the wrong direction for resident well-being.
“Research shows that both staffing levels and the availability of skilled nursing staff are important predictors of the quality of care that nursing home residents receive,” said Kohn, an expert in elder law. “Florida’s new law reduces the number of hours of certified nursing staff time that facilities must provide to residents each day. This opens the door to nursing homes substituting trained staff for essentially unskilled labor. That is dangerous for residents and a clear step in the wrong direction.”
The full Lever News article includes additional details on the nationwide pattern of shielding nursing homes from lawsuits, and how some facilities are reducing the quantity and quality of care to cut costs.