Before last session even began, we knew our nursing homes were overwhelmed with a massive crisis: 15% of nursing homes statewide had exhausted their financial reserves, and 10% were considering closure. In Greater Minnesota, those numbers were much worse—17% of the homes had no financial reserve, and 12% were considering closure. With about 350 nursing homes in the state, that put 60 nursing homes without reserves, and 41 considering closure. This crisis was created from the combination of raging inflation, and delayed government payments being delivered months after services had been given. Due to the strain of staffing shortages, many of the homes that were able to remain open were still forced to limit the patients they could care for in their facilities. There’s no doubt about it—they were on a cliff with no lifeline to speak of.

Luckily, nursing homes across the state are finally seeing the result of work done during the legislative session. Near the end of Session, when it was clear that the Governor had not budgeted to address the problem, Senate Republicans fought for a $300 million deal to help nursing homes amidst this historic crisis. The agreement included direct grants, facility rate increases, and a workforce incentive fund that equated to about $1.1 million for every nursing home in the state. These homes that were previously left without a lifeline are now seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. Though staffing shortages and bed shortages were affecting all homes throughout the state, our rural facilities were taking the biggest hit.

I am pleased to announce that because the legislative deal, 6 homes in our area will be receiving critical funding: Community Memorial Hospital in Cloquet, Interfaith Care Center in Carlton, Moose Lake Village, Sandstone Health Care Center, St. Clare Living Community of Mora, and the Estates at Rush City. These locations received one payment at the start of August with plans to receive an identical payment in August 2024. I’m hopeful that this means families with loved ones that need extra care will be able to find a nursing home in their area, without having to travel across the state to find care for their loved ones.

Though this news is comforting, the road to get this funding was not easy. Senate Republicans fought to make this issue a priority. Considering the historic surplus we started the year with, tackling the nursing home crisis should have been at the top of the “to do” list. Unfortunately, Democrats weren’t interested in addressing this problem until May, when Senate Republicans worked to get a deal done. In fact, Democrats were not willing to seriously discusses this funding until they passed a bonding bill. Sadly, one Democrat Senator attempted to spearhead this issue early in the year but was unable to gain support of the entire Democrat caucus. These are the homes that take care of our most vulnerable—our seniors and their families rely on these homes. These homes and their staff are valued for the services they provide, and we should have helped them at the first signs of distress. I found it incredibly disheartening that this crisis was used as a bargaining chip, when it should have been a bipartisan effort to help our Minnesota families from the start.

While I am relieved to see our homes getting the aid they need, we know this isn’t enough—this is not a long-term solution. These homes will not find stability unless there is a permanent fix to the Medicare reimbursement system. I am hopeful that this will help families keep vulnerable loved ones close by as they receive care, but I also know that this is an issue that will need revisiting. These homes do so much for our families, and it is incredibly important that we continue supporting their efforts.