Staffing shortages could cost U.S. care facilities $19.5B

US staffing shortages amid the coronavirus pandemic will potentially cost nursing and rehabilitation facilities as well as homehealth agencies $19.5 billion this year.

That's the conclusion of a study by consulting firm Oliver Wyman. The lack of caregivers has helped push occupancy rates at facilities down by 5% to 10% since 2020, according to the research published Thursday. That has dampened revenues already plagued by higher labor costs.

Bedside nurses have left the field after coping with often-brutal hours and the trauma of caring for patients during a pandemic that has resulted in more than one million US deaths. Other caregivers are leaving for jobs with equivalent pay and less risk.

That's squeezing nursing homes and other facilities and limiting their ability to take in patients. They've spent untold billions in incentives and higher wages to fill their ranks. An industry trade group estimates that more than 400 nursing homes are at risk of closing this year.

Even using temporary labor, “organizations are still unable to field fullsized workforces,” the report said. It's taking three months to fill bedside nursing jobs.

The report, commissioned by health-care staffing company IntelyCare, says it's worth it for facilities to fill in with contract workers despite their higher wages because it allows them to boost occupancy while saving benefits that can cost the equivalent of three months' pay.

“In many cases, contingent labor is less expensive, more flexible, and less resource intensive to an organization than identifying, recruiting, and retaining net new talent,” the report said.