Baltimore, Maryland — CMS says it is testing a new inspection approach that would allow a small share of higher-performing nursing homes to receive more focused standard surveys, while shifting more state resources toward facilities where residents may face greater risk. The change appears in an updated CMS nursing home guidance page published in late April. The agency said it is working with states over the next several months to test what it calls a risk-based survey approach, or RBS. Under that model, nursing homes with stronger compliance and quality histories could receive a narrower recertification survey, while lower-performing facilities…
Author: Ahuva S
West Des Moines, Iowa — When a nursing home resident’s family grew alarmed enough to dial 911 themselves, they weren’t expecting him to survive the night. He didn’t. And when Iowa regulators wrapped up their investigation, the nurse who allegedly ignored 45 minutes of warning signs walked away with her license intact and a homework assignment. That’s the account emerging from state records reviewed by the Iowa Capital Dispatch involving a skilled nursing facility in West Des Moines called Edgewater Active-Life Community. A Family’s Worst Night According to the Iowa Board of Nursing, a male resident was admitted to Edgewater…
Washington, D.C. — Nursing homes have been struggling to recruit licensed nurses for years. Now the federal government is putting real money on the table to help change that. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is preparing to launch a student loan repayment program that could put up to $40,000 directly toward a nurse’s education debt — with an additional $10,000 stipend available on top of that — in exchange for a three-year commitment to work at a qualifying nursing home. The program targets registered nurses and licensed practical nurses who are either graduating or already working, so long…
Silver Spring, Maryland — The federal government just made it harder to become a nurse — and nursing homes, already struggling to fill open positions, are likely to feel the consequences first. The Department of Education finalized a rule this week that excludes nursing from the definition of “professional degree” programs, capping graduate nursing students at $20,500 per year and $100,000 total in federal loans. Law students and medical students face no such cap. The rule takes effect July 1, 2026. The American Nurses Association called the decision a direct threat to the healthcare workforce. “This final rule will limit…
Washington, D.C. — The Supreme Court heard oral arguments last week in a case that could force tens of thousands of immigrant caregivers out of nursing homes and long-term care facilities across the country — and the early signals from the bench weren’t encouraging for the industry. At issue is the Temporary Protected Status program, a federal designation that allows immigrants from countries deemed too dangerous or unstable to return to — including Haiti and Syria — to live and work legally in the United States. The Trump administration has moved to terminate TPS for more than a million people,…
Irvine, California – Skilled nursing real estate deals are still happening, but Sabra Health Care REIT says the best opportunities are getting harder to find as private buyers crowd the market and chase the same assets. On the company’s first-quarter earnings call, Sabra executives said appealing nursing home transactions remain limited, especially compared with the larger pipeline they see in senior housing. CEO Rick Matros said the company is still open to skilled nursing investments, but mostly when trusted operators bring off-market opportunities directly to Sabra. That pressure is coming from buyers willing to make money from both the real…
Washington, District of Columbia — Federal auditors are taking a closer look at one of the numbers that can make or break a nursing home’s public standing: the staffing hours facilities report to Medicare. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General has an active review underway to determine whether nursing homes are accurately reporting direct care staffing hours through CMS’s Payroll-Based Journal system, according to the agency’s public work plan. That may sound technical. It isn’t. CMS uses PBJ data to measure staffing performance, shape parts of the Five-Star Quality Rating System, and identify possible…
Baltimore, Maryland — Skilled nursing deal activity isn’t slowing down. Even with economic uncertainty hanging over the broader healthcare sector, lenders and brokers closed a string of notable transactions last week — including a record-breaking sale in a state where deals of that size rarely happen. Capital Funding Group (CFG) announced the closing of a $72.4 million bridge loan to support the refinancing and dividend recapitalization of a nine-facility skilled nursing portfolio spanning Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. CFG President Erik Howard said the deal reflects continued demand from experienced operators looking to unlock equity and set their assets…
Salt Lake City, Utah — One of the country’s largest nursing home chains says it’s come out of a federal billing investigation with a stronger compliance operation, a clearer growth strategy, and a $100 million bet on technology. PACS Group, which owns 323 skilled nursing and post-acute facilities across 17 states, went public in 2024 and almost immediately landed under government scrutiny over its billing practices. CEO and co-founder Jason Murray told industry reports this week that the scrutiny was a turning point — not a setback. “Over the last 18 months, particularly in the area of compliance, we’ve accelerated…
Washington, D.C. — Federal investigators have found that nursing homes across the United States are deliberately misdiagnosing residents with schizophrenia — a condition most of them don’t have — to disguise the widespread, unauthorized use of powerful antipsychotic drugs. The findings come from a pair of reports released in March by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, which reviewed 40 focused nursing home inspections carried out by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The picture that emerged was deeply troubling: facilities routinely giving antipsychotic medications to residents with dementia as a way to control…
