In The Hill: Parkinson Discusses Solutions To Nursing Home Workforce Crisis Amid Looming Staffing Mandate
AHCA/NCAL President and CEO Mark Parkinson writes in
The Hill that the visa freeze issued in May by the State Department comes "at the same time that the Biden administration plans to soon issue a minimum staffing mandate for nursing homes." Parkinson says the situation "is an example of a key missed opportunity to help bolster our long-term-care workforce, and how Washington is leaving real solutions to address the labor crisis on the table." In order to boost the nursing home workforce, Parkinson says "one potential solution lies in common-sense immigration reform," adding AHCA/NCAL "supports the recently introduced DIGNITY Act, which would improve visa processing, as well as the reintroduction of the Health care Workforce Resilience Act, which would recapture unused visas from previous fiscal years for nurses and their families." Parkinson also calls for "adequate funding" and urges the country to "help train the next generation of caregivers and incentivize them to choose a career in long-term care."
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Staff contact:
bhawkins@mehca.org