Virginia nursing homes have lost 9,500+ employees since the start of the pandemic. The widespread shortages are raising concerns over patient care and increasing calls for policy solutions.
The day Virginia closed its schools in March of 2020, Tom Orsini knew he’d have a problem.
“It was devastating,” said Orsini, president and CEO of Lake Taylor Transitional Care Hospital in Norfolk. “Because our staff, they’re the caregivers at home.” Over the next several months, more and more employees struggled to make shifts at the nursing home as classes stayed virtual amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Industry-wide, thousands more workers got sick and thousands quit, citing burnout and the stress of the job, according to surveying by the Virginia Health Care Association-Virginia Association of Assisted Living. Since February 2020, the state’s long-term care industry has lost more than 9,500 workers, raising concerns about its recovery and the quality of care that residents are receiving.