To the Editor,
I want to give Minnesota legislators a big shout out and thank you for ensuring that emergency funding for nursing homes was included in the budget surplus spending last legislative session. Some of our nursing homes were in desperate situations financially, as a lot of them have not been able to recover financially due to the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation, and workforce shortages all hitting them at the same time. Many have had to turn people away because they didn’t have enough staff to take in any more residents. Without this emergency funding several facilities were looking at closing. When nursing homes close there are consequences: some people lose jobs and have to work farther away; some people have to wait in the hospital longer for a space to open up; some people have to go to a nursing home far away from their support system which means families have to drive farther away to visit their loved ones.
When nursing homes remain open there are different consequences that could occur. Several facilities in the past two years had to increase employee wages so they could retain staff but did not receive any additional state reimbursement funds. This meant they had to deplete their financial reserves or use credit lines to stay afloat.
Last session, the DFL-led house and senate chose to take action and make historic investments in our nursing home residents and their staff. Along with the emergency funding, the 2024-25 Human Services Budget invested millions of dollars more in nursing homes than the last two-year budget, the largest increase in state history. This shows how much Minnesota DFL legislators value our seniors and the staff that work in our community nursing homes. It’s efforts like these that make Minnesota the great place it is to live and work.
Michelle Folken
Chatfield, Minn.
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