JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Long-term care facilities in Florida are bracing for staffing shortages and challenges with temporary protected status for an estimated 158,000 Haitians living in Florida set to expire Monday.
Kasey Wagner is an attorney specializing in nursing home abuse and neglect cases at Farah and Farah.
“It’s a critical issue,” said Wagner.
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Wagner explained in Florida, Haitians make up a significant portion of the workforce in long-term care facilities.
“I mean, these are the people who are helping with toileting, helping with meal set up. It’s all the day-to-day activities of daily living,” said Wagner.
In a letter sent to DHS earlier this month, the Florida Health Care Association estimated 35,000 Haitians working in the health care field in Florida alone could be impacted by the decision to end their temporary protected status.
“The loss of even a small percentage of these experienced caregivers would be detrimental to residents’ continuity of care as well as providers who are already struggling to fill essential positions,” wrote FHCA CEO Emmett Reed.
Wagner said given long-term care facilities already struggle to meet staffing needs, they will likely have to turn to temporary staffing agencies to fill the gaps.
She argued facilities that rely on temporary staff often see more problems with abuse and neglect.
“If they don’t know the person’s baseline and they’re just coming in and out, in and out, in and out, they’re not gonna have that intuition that something might be wrong,” said Wagner.
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And Wagner said it’s not just current residents that could be impacted, as long-term care facilities can only accept new residents if they have the necessary staff to take care of them.
“Then you’re looking at like admissions freezes and things like that, which legally they would need to do if they don’t have the staff to take care of everybody in the building,” said Wagner.
Wagner encouraged those with family members in nursing homes or assisted living facilities to check in with their loved ones regularly to ensure they’re getting the care they need.
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