Liston Introduces Legislation to Improve Care for Nursing Home Residents

Today, state Senator Beth Liston (D-Dublin) announced the introduction of legislation to ensure Ohioans in nursing facilities receive the needed direct care services to which they are entitled by excluding activities like billing or compliance reviews that do not involve taking care of residents from the hours of care nursing homes are required to provide.

“Our seniors deserve excellent care,” said Liston. “While most of our nursing facilities exceed the care minimum standards, this bill would prevent bad actors from cutting corners at the expense of vulnerable Ohioans. Direct care hours should mean time spent supporting residents, not time spent on paperwork.” 

Currently, Ohio’s nursing homes are only required to provide residents 2.5 hours of care per resident per day, well below the national standard of 3.48 care hours per resident per day. Additionally, Ohio law allows nursing homes to count the time nurses and nurse aides spend on administrative tasks toward the minimum required care hours.

The bill awaits a number and committee assignment.