NY to begin enforcing nursing home staffing minimums amid concerns of 'system collapse'

New York will soon begin enforcing its 2021 state law establishing staffing minimums at nursing homes, despite concerns the effort could turn the upstate hospital capacity crunch into a crisis. Nursing homes will face fines of up to $2,000 per day for failing to meet the new staffing levels and related financial standards. About 75% of the state’s roughly 600 nursing homes have been violating the standards as of earlier this year, industry officials said. In other words, hundreds of nursing homes either must hire more staff or reduce their number of residents to avoid fines in coming months. State health officials also can waive fines in specific communities based on a formula for declaring a local labor shortage.