Noble adjusts to severe staffing shortage

SALISBURY — Pummeled for two and a half years by a severe staffing shortage and declining patient census, the Noble Horizons Senior Community has announced that it has “carefully adjusted” the number of patients it admits in order to continue to provide a quality level of care.

Administrator Bill Pond said while the details are still unfolding, the intent is to consolidate patient areas to make more efficient use of staff at the nonprofit, 91-bed nursing facility, which has a current occupancy rate of 68.

“We have reviewed a number of options and if we can temporarily run our operation on a smaller scale, it would go a long way toward reinforcing the staffing patterns that we have.”

Pond noted that Noble’s independent living cottages are at full capacity and are not affected by the decision.

“Nursing home staffing has been a significant challenge,” said the administrator. “I think we’ve hired one or two people through the typical process since last Thanksgiving.” A lack of new hires, he said, has taken a severe toll on existing staff.

Pond said he is concerned for his staff’s well-being.

“We have gone an entire two and a half years dealing with COVID and people are beginning to get tired. The burden is on their shoulders to fill the extra slots and hours,” the Noble administrator explained. “The staffing is spread throughout all our units of the nursing home.”

Noble is not an anomaly. Nursing homes are facing a historic workforce crisis. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the industry has lost nearly 230,000 caregivers since February 2020, the most significant job loss among all health-care sectors.

In a notice in the senior community’s newsletter on Thursday, Aug. 18, Pond explained that while recruiting efforts continue, Noble plans to temporarily relocate patients from its Whitridge unit, which houses the Memory Care Program, to the Wagner and Riga units “once all safety precautions are in place.”

Pond said the transfer will allow Noble to “better assess the Whitridge space for a needed renovation and, at the same time, Noble’s direct care services and oversight will nearly double, all residents will live in private rooms and all staff members will stay on.

Pond said the number of licensed beds at the facility will remain at 91, and that the reduction of patients is short-term to make better use of staffing.

“We are not formally reducing our beds. We are just trying to condense the population that we have,” the administrator explained. “We notified our ombudsman already and the regulatory agencies. This is just a temporary solution as staffing stabilizes.”

Pond stressed that there will be no layoffs, no discharges and no reduction in services, and that the facility’s outpatient and inpatient physical therapy services are not affected.

“I think that the key at this point is being able to provide the level of care that our people are accustomed to receiving, and if we can create a stronger nursing ratio” that is mission accomplished, he said.

The Noble administrator said family members will be involved in the transition through meetings and discussions “to allow them to be part of the process and provide input and feedback. If a family member is opposed, we will not go forward.”