Strafford County officials say bed caps and Medicaid funding shortfalls limit nursing-home capacity at Riverside

Strafford County commissioners and state representatives spent a special-committee meeting outlining why Riverside Nursing Home is operating well below its licensed capacity and how state and federal funding rules have constrained local long-term-care options.

County officials said Riverside’s current daily census is about 170 residents even though the facility’s licensed capacity is roughly 215 beds. The county’s representative on the call described staffing shortages, reimbursement limits and a statewide cap on nursing-home beds as the primary causes of the lower census. “We’re the last resort,” the county commissioner said, describing Riverside’s role in taking residents private facilities cannot manage.

The discussion centered on three policy constraints county leaders said have reduced capacity: a moratorium that froze the number of nursing-home beds statewide, weak funding for the state’s Choices for Independence (CFI) home- and community-based services program, and Medicaid reimbursement rules county officials say leave facilities underfunded. County officials said the original…