Long Term Care

Even with a mostly volunteer workforce, the approximately $300,000 annually the program gets from the state isn’t enough, advocates said.

A federal rule will require long-term care facilities to have a minimum number of nursing staff on hand at all times to take care of residents.

The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is fining the directors of the closed Northview Village nursing home more than $18,000 for each day they violated federal rules. Advocates for residents of long-term care facilities say it's not enough.

The St. Louis City Senior Fund voted unanimously Tuesday to allocate the funds for some nursing home residents who were displaced a week ago when the facility suddenly closed and their belongings were stolen.

After Northview Village administrators notified employees at the north Kingshighway facility Friday they would not be paid, management shuttled approximately 170 residents to new homes. Employees still have not received their paychecks, and some families are trying to track down their loved ones.

Missouri lost 6,000 workers across nursing and residential care facilities during the coronavirus pandemic, and the state ranks 51st in hours of care nursing home residents receive from nurses. Experts and advocates say inadequate staffing endangers residents.

St. Louis County nursing homes reported a big increase in coronavirus cases in January, the highest in nearly a year. County health officials recorded 968 cases at nursing homes last month, up from 262 cases in December.

A federal mandate will soon require all U.S. nursing homes to vaccinate their workers or risk losing government funding. But some worry vaccine mandates will worsen staff shortages.

Advocates for nursing home residents and union representatives say President Joe Biden's order that nursing homes require employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine will help keep the coronavirus from spreading.

Missouri lawmakers are considering legislation that would shield nursing homes and other businesses from coronavirus-related lawsuits. Some advocates worry the proposal will prevent nursing home residents from holding facilities legally responsible for abuse and neglect.