Talking Healthcare in Rural Minnesota
A major concern I hear about across the Seventh District is the workforce shortage and, more urgently, this administration's non-solution to the problem. The Biden-Harris administration has proposed a mandatory nursing staff ratio for nursing homes, despite their own reporting that there is no level of staffing that can guarantee quality care. If implemented, this mandate would force nursing homes across rural Minnesota to further limit care or even close their doors altogether, which would mean patients could have to move hundreds of miles away from the care they have been receiving and the homes they know and love.
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I have been fighting back against this mandate since the beginning, sending letters to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), introduced legislation requiring HHS to halt implementation until they can prove rural homes will not be impacted, and speaking directly to HHS Secretary Becerra in the Ways and Means Committee. I have also encouraged the department to work with communities to find solutions that bolster the recruitment and retention of qualified nursing staff.
I want to thank those that joined me for a roundtable in Marshall at Avera Health and the staff at Glenfields Living with Care in Glencoe for taking the time out of your busy days to talk with me.
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