“What’s it like having five kids?” Jim Gaffigan recalls being asked. The comedian replied, “Imagine you’re drowning. And someone hands you a baby!”
If you’re an executive in the senior living field, this may describe how you feel. Your work is essential. It requires a high level of specialized skill and a deep well of compassion to provide the care residents and their loved ones deserve.
Times are tough, though. Special funding provided during the Covid pandemic is ending. Well-intended regulations are imposing unintended difficulties. Hiring and retaining quality staff is exceptionally challenging; operating margins are low.
Moreover, burnout rates among current care workers are high—with many caregivers leaving their field—and demographic trends are not particularly favorable. We may be in the best labor market we will see for some time.
While not all levels of the senior living and care continuum will be impacted to the same extent, with nursing and assisted living facilities impacted more severely than independent living communities, senior living labor shortages are approaching epidemic levels. The stats are striking. According to the American Health Care Association:
- Ninety-nine percent of nursing homes currently have open jobs, including 89 percent who are actively trying to hire for registered nurse (RN) positions.
- Seventy-two percent of nursing homes say their current workforce levels are lower than pre-pandemic staffing levels.
- More than half of nursing homes say their workforce situation has stayed the same or gotten worse.
What can you do to attract and retain employees in the senior living industry? With decades of combined experience in this field – we can help you find attainable solutions for your senior living labor shortage.
4 Creative Solutions to Address the Senior Living Labor Shortage
Confronting labor shortages in the senior living industry is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. It requires courage and creativity. Here are four options to consider.
1. Attract and Retain Employees in the Senior Living Industry with Subsidized Housing
Staffing challenges in the senior living industry aren’t our only cultural obstacle. Housing is another. Interest rates have more than doubled since 2020, yet due to a shortage of houses, home prices have not decreased substantially.
Unfortunately, while living expenses have priced many out of employment in the senior living industry, your company has a few creative ways to combat the housing crisis.
- Create housing
- Subsidize housing
Developing real estate can ease many burdens simultaneously. The courageous Benedictine Sisters of Watertown, South Dakota, at the Mother of God Monastery, are a shining example.
Faced with a declining population and increasing healthcare concerns, the Sisters decided to take action. They enlisted the counsel and guidance of Catalyst Construction, among others.
They engaged in a multiyear plan to re-vision their ministry, becoming more than a monastery. The Sisters are developing their property to include a state-of-the-art, COVID-informed senior living and care community, single-family housing, and mixed-use commercial space.
The Sisters of Mother of God Monastery were always interested in welcoming newcomers. They used this skill set to connect with Ukrainian refugees and other new Americans.
By providing transitional housing in unused spaces, they afforded immigrants housing and benefited from filling several positions on their campus. Working with state-recognized agencies that serve immigrants and potential transitional housing partners may offer new sources of help.
Roughly 20% or more of the current senior care industry staff are immigrant workers. Housing matters for everyone, but it’s especially pressing for people new to the country.
If addressing the current housing crisis is a direction you decide to pursue, consider offering housing subsidies as a part of salary packages.
Offering a housing subsidy allows you to meet a pressing need with, perhaps, fewer complications. If you provide housing to employees, you incur a significant amount of responsibility with leasing, maintenance, insurance, and more. Providing a housing subsidy, though, can alleviate some of the pressures of housing affordability without the additional stress of property management.
2. Renovate Thoughtfully to Increase Employee Retention
Not all senior living communities have the financial wherewithal to build new facilities.
That’s ok!
We understand that you may currently be stretched beyond your capacity. Not every solution to the senior living staffing shortage requires a Herculean effort. You can take steps that may be more manageable.
Consider renovating the following spaces in your senior living community.
- Offices
- Resident rooms
- Staff lounge
- Common areas
- Exterior community space
- Cafeteria
Social Club at Evin Senior Homes
Don’t overlook the importance that the physical work environment has on your staff. Boost employee morale with a staff lounge that feels like a fun coffee shop, improve focus with offices that minimize distractions, and enhance a sense of dignity with resident rooms that feel like home.
3. Nursing Facilities: Consider Down-Licensing to Assisted Living to Alleviate the Senior Living Staffing Shortage
Hard times require courageous decisions. Due to many factors, including the federal staffing mandate and limited funding, many skilled nursing facilities are forced to make difficult decisions.
Healthcare consultant Melissa Brown recently told McKnight’s Long-Term Care News that up to 50% of nursing homes could close in the next ten years.
If you’re forced to consider closing, you can also think seriously about down-licensing to an assisted living license classification.
Don’t be pressured into believing that down-licensing equates to compromising your mission. While down-licensing impacts the kind of care you can provide seniors – it will still allow you to provide care. Further, assisted living facilities have opportunities that skilled nursing facilities may not.
Down-licensing is not an easy decision. However, it may be a viable option when navigating an unworkable staffing situation. It is essential that you work with a knowledgeable partner to determine whether your facility will meet current state licensure requirements for the assisted living license classification you would pursue.
4. Enlist the Help of Knowledgeable Partners
One of the most significant challenges for leaders in the senior living sector is finding a trusted advisor and partner to hold private and frank conversations. Often, leaders can isolate themselves, or their governing board may not be engaged properly.
Catalyst provides talented leaders, experienced funding and financing solutions, and a team with a background in strategic planning. We can provide a true sounding board for leaders, their governing boards and owners, as well as their staff, to confront obstacles and develop a credible path forward.
Every leader and organization can benefit from seeking a trusted advisor amid ongoing staff challenges, uncertain federal mandates, and other barriers.
Alleviate the Staffing Shortage in the Senior Living Industry
The current senior living staffing shortage impacts us all, and we’re in this together. What is clear is that to be successful in today’s landscape, providers will need both facilities and processes to manage the challenges of the staffing environment.
Decisions regarding the built environment must be thoughtfully made to enhance a provider’s operational effectiveness and efficiency. The need for expert advisors in this process cannot be overstated.
Catalyst Construction is more than a construction company. We partner with you because we are invested in building OUR community – together. We have the expertise and cross-industry connections you need to find solutions that will empower you to create a brighter future. Our network is your network! Tap into decades of experience, a trusted network of successful professionals, and friends who will walk with you.
Reach out today for a free consultation!
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