In February 2020, just before covid hit, there were about 1.6 million people (pdf) employed in nursing homes in the US. By July of 2022, less than 1.4 million were, according to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. A sudden reduction of employment in healthcare affected all health sectors—from physicians’ offices to dentists to outpatient care services—as covid hit. But while most of these sectors recovered relatively swiftly, getting back to pre-pandemic levels, long-term care employment is still struggling to meet the needs of patients.
