Virginia health agencies outline reforms after sharp rise in nursing home complaints

RICHMOND — The Virginia Department of Health and the Department of Medical Assistance Services on Tuesday told the General Assembly subcommittee overseeing health and resources that both agencies are pursuing staffing, process and payment changes to address rising complaints and uneven quality in nursing facilities across the commonwealth.

Christopher Lindsey, chief operating officer for the Virginia Department of Health, said the Office of Licensure and Certification is “reimagining” nursing home oversight after complaints surged from about 730 in 2023 to 1,246 as of Sept. 5, 2024, and a projected 1,800 by year end. Lindsey said high-priority complaints — immediate and non‑immediate jeopardy cases — have shown a similar increase.

The spike in complaints has coincided with long gaps between federally mandated surveys. Lindsey said VDH’s goal is to meet the federal target of 15.9 months between surveys. He reported a recent improvement from a much longer interval to roughly 22.4 months as of June 2024, but said the department remained “a bit off the mark.”

Why it matters: Nursing facility residents are vulnerable and oversight lapses have direct consequences for safety and care. VDH and DMAS briefed lawmakers on concurrent strategies — VDH on inspections, complaints intake and inspector recruitment; DMAS on how Medicaid value-based payments reward facility performance.

What VDH is doing: Lindsey attributed survey delays to vacancies and said the Office of Licensure and Certification (OLC) had a roughly 42% vacancy rate across its divisions, with long-term care inspector positions especially strained. He told the committee that of 47 authorized long-term care inspector positions, 23 were vacant as of the Sept. 5 slide cited in his presentation. To address that, VDH has: -…