Nursing Homes

Friday’s ruling said about 140 children in the Medicaid program are in three nursing homes in Pinellas and Broward counties. It also said more than 1,800 children are considered at risk of being institutionalized.

The law allows qualified CNAs to administer “routine” medications to residents, freeing up registered nurses to provide other needed care.

A civil rights lawsuit filed by the Justice Department against regulators a decade ago has finally gone to trial, and the judge looks set to remove 140 children from nursing homes in Broward and Pinellas.

The vote was unanimous, 39-0 vote. A similar bill in the House will soon be up for a vote. If signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, it would take effect July 1.

The 19-0 vote by the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee moves the legislation to a vote by the full state Senate. The House will also vote on a matching bill.

Said Sen. Gayle Harrell (R-Stuart)" "This is exactly what we want to do to build our workforce."

The measure would allow CNAs to become “qualified medication aides” and free up registered nurses to provide other needed care to residents.

Two Republican bills would limit lawsuits by survivors' families against nursing homes in cases of neglect or wrongful death.

Prosecutors claim Jorge Carballo abandoned his patients, going home after the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills lost power to its air conditioner during the 2017 storm. Nine people died.

The industry has long relied on immigrants to bolster its ranks, and they’ll be critical to meeting future staffing needs, experts say. But as the baby boom generation fills beds, policymakers are slow to open new pathways for foreign workers.

Many small-town care facilities that remain open are limiting admissions, citing a lack of staff, while a wave of others shutter. That means more patients are marooned in hospitals or placed far away from their families.

Federal authorities say three South Florida nursing school participated in a wire fraud scheme that they say created an illegal shortcut for aspiring nurses to get licensed and find employment.