Stephen Hanse and I were originally going to discuss the state’s unwillingness to provide COVID-19 data on individual nursing homes. His organizations, the NYS Health Facilities Association & NYS Center for Assisted Living, represent about 450 providers across the state.

Hanse, who is the president & CEO, agreed the data would be critical to him and he has requested it on numerous occasions.

“Much to our disappointment, that data was not provided,” Hanse told Spectrum News.

But much higher on Hanse’s list of concerns is something entirely different: Staffing shortages.

“Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic we had staffing shortages in nursing homes and assisted living facilities,” he said. “Now with the advent of COVID-19, we have staff becoming infected.”  

Even more disturbing?  The staffers who are left are being poached by wealthy downstate hospitals.

“I was made aware this morning that there are ... agencies that are contacting staff at nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and other staffing agencies and offering significant pay increases if they’ll leave those facilities and go work in other settings,” Hanse said.

The reason is simple: Money.

Some nursing homes and assisted living facilities downstate as well as in Monroe, Niagara, and Erie Counties where there are also some COVID-19 hotspots are paying “hazard pay” to staff; typically about 30 percent more than the average salaries of staffers.  

But even with hazard pay, many downstate hospitals can pay more than nursing homes. Hanse has not heard of any poaching taking place in upstate counties.  

“But I would not be surprised if it were to occur, because nursing homes in New York state have been underfunded for quite some time.”

A total of 78 percent of patients in New York state nursing homes are on Medicaid. Medicaid pays $56 per patient, per day in New York.

“That limits our ability to compete with those other healthcare venues,” Hanse explained.