Virginia to set more staffing standards for nursing homes

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 4,000 people in Virginia living in nursing homes have died from the virus. At this time, cases are still up, but deaths from the virus are not.

Debbi Taylor is Virginia’s AARP state legislative specialist. She says that as COVID cases increase, open positions in nursing homes are on the rise as well.

“Virginia facilities reported a shortage of nurses and aides at about 19% during this period,” Taylor said.

Taylor says Virginia is also one of 12 states with no laws setting the minimum number of hours nurses and aides give to nursing home residents.

“It’s really important that you have as much staff as possible to do all the important jobs, and that includes making sure that residents and staff were vaccinated and also, infection prevention within nursing home,” Taylor said. “It’s really interesting that most Virginia a lot of Virginia residents and staff members aren’t fully vaccinated.”

On Tuesday, January 17, the Virginia House of Delegates Health, Welfare, and Institutions committees are scheduled to meet to set minimum staffing standards for Virginia nursing homes.

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