The pandemic has thrown the long-term care industry into a tailspin.
Fearful of contracting the virus, patients have stayed away from nursing homes, causing a plunge in census numbers for facilities that rely on long-term care residents, short-term rehabilitation referrals and transfers from hospitals.
“Is the industry going to downsize? Yes,” said Andy Edeburn, a principal at Premier, a group purchasing and consulting organization. “Not all nursing homes are going to come back.”
Nursing home occupancies are at an all-time low and facilities are struggling to stay open. Nursing home occupancy dropped 16.5 percentage points to 68.5% in January 2021 from 85% in January 2020, according to the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living. In addition, 143 facilities closed or merged with other organizations in 2020 and 1,670 are projected to do so in 2021, AHCA/NCAL estimated.