​​The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) have released a report showing long term care facilities are suffering from the worst labor crisis and job loss than any other health care sector. Nursing homes alone have seen their industry's employment level drop by 14 percent, or 221,000 jobs, since the beginning of the pandemic and more than any other health sector.

While hospitals, physicians' offices, outpatient care centers, and other health care facilities have reached or surpassed pre-pandemic staffing levels, nursing homes and assisted living communities are still experiencing substantial job losses, according to the latest October employment data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

​Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) March 2019 – October 2021

Mark Parkinson, president and chief executive officer of AHCA/NCAL, said that these workforce challenges for nursing homes and assisted living communities could be attributable to multiple factors.

“As many caregivers are getting burned out by the pandemic, workers are leaving the field for jobs in other health care settings or other industries altogether. Chronic Medicaid underfunding, combined with the billions of dollars providers have spent to fight the pandemic, have left long term care providers struggling to compete for qualified staff," he said.

“We desperately need the help of policymakers to attract and retain more caregivers so that our nation's most vulnerable have access to the long term care they need."