Texas’ nursing homes are missing something: nurses

Texas does not have enough nurses for its senior care facilities. The shortage is fueled by a number of factors. There is a growing apathy burning through the nursing industry, and the COVID-19 pandemic only fanned the flames. Baby boomers are both retiring from the nursing profession and needing care themselves. Nursing homes have been hit particularly hard by this crisis due to financial constraints and medical students wanting jobs in more prestigious fields. In the backdrop of the staffing crisis is another troubling trend in Texas: Nursing homes are closing. A report from Texas Health and Human Services shows that from 2018-22, at least 60 nursing facilities in the state — 2% — have lost the battle to inflation, low Medicaid reimbursement rates and other financial burdens. For Texas elders and their families, the dearth of new health care professionals in aging populations is dire. At best, they are waiting longer to find beds and paying more when they do. At worst, they are deserted, forced to navigate their last years without the sort of support an aging facility can provide.

“We’ve seen over time that individuals are sicker by the time they get in assisted living and need a higher level of care, and providers don’t have the trained staff to take that type of patient in,” said Kevin Warren, president of the Texas Health Care Association. Finding a home where elders can live out their lives safely and with dignity is hardest for families that live in the empty stretches of rural Texas. Nearly two-thirds of the nursing homes that have closed since 2018 were in rural areas. And seven were in the High Plains, the region that stretches from Lubbock to the top of the Panhandle. “In rural areas, it’s common for the next closest nursing home to be 30 miles away or farther,” said Alyse Meyer with LeadingAge Texas, an advocacy organization that works with 200 aging-service providers across the state. “There are other factors that are important to families when forced to choose a new nursing home for their loved one.”