David Gifford, MD, AHCA Senior Vice President of Quality and Regulatory Affairs

Following the announcement from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on the steps it would take to would ensure skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) are staffed adequately, advocates for long term and post-acute care providers said the moves by CMS would actually make it harder to meet regulations and hire staff.

David Gifford, MD, Senior Vice President of Quality and Regulatory Affairs at the American Health Care Association, said the plan “will enforce policies that makes it even more difficult to meet regulatory requirements and hire staff,” adding, “Rather than taking proactive steps to address the national workforce shortage long term care facilities are facing, CMS seems to be focusing on a punitive approach that will penalize providers and make it harder to hire staff to meet the shared goal of increasing staffing.”

Read the full article from Provider magazine.