Census and Occupancy

Skilled Nursing News had an article about the golden age of occupancy and census as competent staffing continues to decline.

As vulnerable adults in nursing homes across the U.S. experience hardship and abuse, two COOs of Senior Care share their view of how to increase profit in the senior-care industry.

Both Andy Frasure, COO of Larry H. Miller Senior Health, and Steve Hart, COO of Heritage Operations Group gathered to teach other long-term care leaders how to subtly decrease the quality of care in their facilities to eventually increase personal gain. They suggest clear decreases in resident care such as cutting necessary staffing and using new technology such as AI to do the work of health care officials. Further, the COOs encouraged facilities to reduce the amount of work their nurses and other staff members do, so less patients receive staffing attention.

Hart even went so far as to recognize that insufficient and low-quality staffing is a concern, but he is not allowing this to limit the number of residents his facilities accept. “On the high end, we tend to occupy every bed that we hope to fill, and that’s probably the majority of our buildings, at least, in rural Illinois.”

If it was ever unclear where the priorities of senior care officials lie, Hart and Frasure have clearly and confidently laid out their priorities for the public to see; it remains a shame, the number of adults who trust such leaders with the well-being of their loved ones when all the executives search for is profit.