Jordan certainly understands the realities of tight finances. His own facility, Beadles Nursing Home in Alva, which was started by his great-grandmother in 1917, is currently in the process of merging with the only other nursing facility in that town, the Share Convalescent Home. The goal is for the single nursing home that will remain in Alva to be more secure in its own future.
According to Steve Buck, the chief executive officer at Care Providers Oklahoma, the state’s largest trade association representing nursing homes, financial pressures along with a new and controversial federal staffing mandate, could force more care facilities to close, especially in rural, underserved parts of the state. He said no fewer than nine have closed in the last couple of years, including facilities in Vinita and Sapulpa. “We don’t survey as to members’ specific financial situations, but what I would tell you is that it is fair to say that at least one-third of the buildings in the state see significant, persistent challenges related to their ongoing ability to provide care, (and) if this (federal) mandate goes into effect, that number will escalate dramatically,” he said.
Many of the current financial stresses facing nursing homes can be traced to how much facilities are reimbursed by the government for their care of Medicaid patients. A typical nursing home in Oklahoma has around 80% Medicaid residents, Buck said. Some are 100% Medicaid.
A blending of state and federal program f.