California Wants to Increase Nursing Home Staffing Ratio Per Patient Per Day

Written by Adam Peck Category: Elder Law January 26th, 2013 3 min read

Requiring more nurses to be on duty in nursing homes is key to improving care, according to a labor union and a watchdog group. Now, nursing homes are required to provide at least 3.2 hours of nurse staffing per patient per day. Some want the minimum raised to 3.5 hours.

Legislation that became law in 2008 mandated that an 18-member “workgroup” be formed to recommend how to improve care in nursing homes indicates California Elder Law Attorney Steven C. Peck.

The workgroup included members representing nursing home owners, the SEIU, the watchdog group California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR), senior citizens groups and others.

The group was concerned with Assembly Bill 1629, which changed how nursing homes are paid and provided them with higher payments. The workgroup held a number of meetings. Its efforts were overseen by the state Department of Health Care Services, which was supposed to issue a report to the Legislature last March.

The report is still being finalized, said Lisa Gray, a spokeswoman for the department. She said she couldn’t give a date when it’s expected to be released.

Each member of the workgroup produced a list of recommendations for improving care at nursing homes. SEIU and CANHR both recommended raising the minimum nurse staffing level from 3.2 to 3.5 hours.

The union wrote that plans should be made, also, for how to reach the staffing level of 4.1 hours that some experts have recommended.

CANHR recommended that nursing home rate increases should depend on homes’ meeting the 3.2-hour minimum. “We don’t think they should be granting any rate increases to homes that don’t meet 3.2,” said Mike Connors, a CANHR advocate who served on the workgroup.

Last year, a bill was introduced in the Legislature that would have required nurse staffing levels to be at least 3.5 hours per day per patient, in place of the current 3.2 hours requirement.

Assemblyman Warren Furutani, D-Gardena, introduced the legislation, but he later withdrew it at the request of its sponsor, the SEIU, said Leilani Yee, Furutani’s legislative director. Mary Gutierrez, a spokeswoman for the union, said the SEIU felt it couldn’t do a good job of promoting the bill when it was so focused on the state budget. The measure might be introduced again next year, she said.

On another matter, both CANHR and the SEIU objected to nursing homes’ being able to use money it received through Medi-Cal to buy liability insurance.

CANHR said the practice should be stopped altogether, while the SEIU called for controlling how much could be spent for that purpose. Owners of nursing homes who participated in the workgroup also made recommendations.

They called for making AB1629 a permanent law.

They also recommended measuring how satisfied residents, families and staff are and including that information in nursing-home ratings.

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Written by Adam Peck

Expertise: Personal Injury

Adam J. Peck, ESQ is a principal with Peck Law Group, APC. In 2008, Mr. Adam Peck received his Juris Doctorate from Whittier Law School where he graduated Cum Laude. His practice is primarily dedicated to representing Elders, Dependent Adults, along with their loved ones and family members, who have suffered horrific personal injuries.