Too many stories about employee theft and abuse, and Medicaid and Medicare fraud, cloud the senior care industry’s future.
I don’t know about you, but I am always surprised by how many stories I read about employee theft in senior care communities, Medicaid and Medicare fraud by skilled nursing owners, assaults by employees on residents who they are supposed to take care of. What is it about this industry that seems to attract people with, well, less than good intentions? On the fraud side, there is one answer, of course, and that is greed. The problem, however, is that some of these people get caught, and then come back under a different name or using a front LLC and start all over again. But the most worrisome is the bad behavior by employees. What happens five or 10 years from now when providers have to really dig deep into the employee pool and hire less qualified staff, or people who have little empathy for the residents they are caring for, cleaning up after, or assisting with eating? I know I sound like a broken record, but I am really troubled by the looming staffing crisis. If hiring is difficult now, what happens in 10 years? One answer will be hiring that retired 75-year old, or older. If they don’t have empathy, who will?
