Seemingly everywhere you go these days you hear about worker shortages – in restaurants, stores, factories – the list goes on and on. Not surprisingly, senior living communities and their operators are not immune from this trend.

A recent Senior Housing News article reported that 81% of assisted living providers are suffering from staffing shortages. With the quality of resident life and safety strongly correlating to staffing levels, this is a troubling issue and one that must get resolved.

Many operators want the government to offer higher reimbursement rates to allow them to offer more attractive wages. Others feel that the perception of working with the elderly needs to be improved so senior living staffing jobs are more appealing.

Providing fully staffed communities must be a priority if the industry is to continue rebuilding following the impacts of COVID.