KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — The senior care facilities continue to deal with industry-wide staffing shortages following the COVID-19 pandemic. A new report from a Seniorly, an online senior care information platform, found that Tennessee ranked among the worst states for senior care staffing in 2024.
The Seniorly study analyzed data from federal agencies including the Health Resources Services Administration and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics as well as the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation from 2022 to 2024. Factors in the analysis included occupancy rates, ratio of staff per occupant, and staff turnover.
According to the American Health Care Association, senior care facilities remain 120,000 staffers short of the pre-pandemic level in early 2020 with 99 percent of nursing homes reporting having unfilled jobs in a recent ACHA survey.
Overall, Tennessee was ranked 48th out of the 50 states and the District of Columbia in senior care staffing.
The state was among the worst for home health availability. Tennessee’s ratio of 17.7 older adults per home health aide ranked 47th in the nation. In primary care workforce adequacy, which rates the availability of primary care and geriatric medicine, Tennessee ranked in the bottom 10 at No. 42.
Tennessee’s highest rating on any individual factor was for percent of nursing homes with staffing shortages, coming in at No. 27 with 34 percent. It also ranked No. 28 in median staff turnover in nursing homes.
Tennessee ranked in the 30s in two key factors, median ratio of staff to occupied beds in nursing homes (No. 34) and median nursing home occupancy (No. 36).
Click here to see the full report from Seniorly.
