nursing homes

Bills sponsored by Missouri state Sen. Stephen Webber and state Rep. Kimberly-Ann Collins are designed to provide more oversight to state nursing homes and require certain staffing levels. But so far they’ve made little progress in the legislature.

Twenty states — including Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, and Nebraska — have joined a lawsuit suing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services over a federal requirement increasing minimum staffing levels for nursing homes.

Around this time last year, a quarter of Missouri nursing homes hadn’t been inspected in at least two years. Now the number is closer to 3%, according to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data.

In her new book "Mom Forgot My Birthday: A Daughter's Journey Through Alzheimer's," Sonya Jury offers advice for navigating an a loved one's diagnosis through a lens of "how-not-to."

Missouri’s long-term care ombudsman program organizes workers and volunteers to advocate for and educate residents at the state’s hundreds of nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities. But it has fewer than half the recommended staff members.

New rules from the Biden administration will force most Kansas nursing homes to hire more staff, and owners aren’t happy. Plus: The USDA's new program SUN Bucks doles out $40 per month over the summer for each eligible child. However, 13 states turned down the funding.

A landmark federal staffing mandate has prompted fierce disagreement between resident advocates and the nursing home industry.

A St. Louis nursing home’s overnight closure in late 2023 upended the lives of more than 170 residents and families. Advocates and politicians called for its directors to be held accountable, but a $56,000 fine from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services could be the only penalty.

After a year-and-a-half investigation, the U.S. Department of Justice determined that Missourians suffering with mental illness are “subjected to unnecessary stays in nursing facilities, generally because of a series of systemic failures by the state.”

Western Kansas is projected to see large population declines in the coming years, but immigration may be the key to stemming the losses. The communities that have embraced their diversity have seen their population stabilize and the local culture shift. Plus: To stay open, rural nursing homes across the Midwest are prioritizing nurses.

We normally think of trees as being good for the environment. But in parts of the Midwest and Great Plains, they're actually heating up the earth as woodlands take over grasslands.

The trend was already underway when the COVID-19 pandemic pushed rural and small-town nursing homes to close permanently. Yet, some communities are finding ways today to re-envision nursing homes while keeping staff at the forefront.