Following a hearing on the two House staffing bills, HB 330, HB 646, subcommittee #3 of the House Health, Welfare, and Institutions (HWI) Committee voted by voice vote to continue the bills to 2023. That motion effectively ends consideration of the bills for the current session. HWI Chairman Bobby Orrock (R-Caroline), committed to holding additional meetings on the topic of nursing facility staffing before the next legislative session.

VHCA-VCAL Chairman of the Board Derrick Kendall, president and CEO of Lucy Corr spoke at the bill hearing and described the remarkable difficulties trying to staff facilities today. He described the CNA training program at Lucy Corr and how it cannot meet the demands of the number of applicants for the class. Mark Klyczek, president and CEO of Virginia Health Services, Inc., also testified at the hearing. He noted that a mandate will not help staffing and that his organization’s only pipeline for new staff is its CNA training program. He explained that his company is incurring significantly higher monthly payroll costs for its current staff. Both Kendall and Klyczek explained that they had closed units/beds in response to their workforce shortage. VHCA-VCAL lobbyist Scott Johnson also noted the twin challenges facing nursing facilities: low Medicaid reimbursement and the lack of a pipeline of caregivers.

Members of subcommittee #3 include:

• Chris Head (R-Roanoke)
• Bobby Orrock (R-Caroline)
• Roxanne Robinson (R-Chesterfield)
• Cliff Hayes (D-Chesapeake)
• Kathy Tran (D-Fairfax)

VHCA-VCAL is grateful to the members of HWI Committee and the Senate Education and Health Committee for their recognition of the challenges facing our members by not putting unattainable regulations on them.