Cheshire County lowers Maplewood private‑pay rates and pursues visa nurses to ease staffing shortage

Cheshire County commissioners voted April 9 to reduce private‑pay room rates at Maplewood Nursing Home and heard updates on a contract to recruit overseas registered nurses under a visa program aimed at easing persistent staffing shortages.

At the meeting the board approved lowering Maplewood’s ICF private‑pay rate from $436 to $385 and the TLC private‑pay rate from $468 to $413, effective May 1. The motion was moved, seconded and passed unanimously; Commissioners Clark, Stewart and D. Bernardo each recorded “yes.”

County staff reported an initial onboarding call with Visa Solutions Healthcare and said the vendor provided a roadmap for bringing visa‑sponsored RNs to the county. Staff said three RN resumes had already been received from candidates expressing interest in the area and that the vendor estimated a 3‑to‑6‑month arrival window for early hires. The vendor told the county it typically sees about an 85% retention rate after the end of a three‑year contract, according to staff briefings.

Officials discussed staffing targets and timing: reopening the nursing home’s third floor would likely require roughly 20 RNs; staff described an initial recruiting target of about five RNs at a time with staggered onboarding to match visa processing. Commissioners noted staggered arrivals would ease housing constraints, but said family housing for future hires remains an unresolved challenge.

County staff laid out some of the financial tradeoffs: an upfront placement cost of roughly $14,000 for each nurse in the first 90 days was discussed, with contract‑level fees (previously referenced in the meeting discussion as roughly $6,000–$8,000 rolling to a replacement if a hire leaves). Commissioners asked how quickly visa hires could replace higher travel‑nurse costs; staff said the approach should reduce reliance on agency nurses over time but depends on speed of onboarding and matching licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and licensed nursing assistants to support RNs.

The rate reduction was justified by staff as necessary to align the facility with a changing state reimbursement formula; presenters said the change should place the facility just below a roughly 60% threshold used in state calculations. The board approved the rate action as a precaution to preserve margin against future add‑ons, staff said.

Next steps: staff will continue regular progress reports on hiring and housing efforts and return to the board with updates. The rate change takes effect May 1.