CMS News
| For Immediate Release: | Contact: |
| Thursday, October 07, 2004 | CMS Office of Public Affairs 202-690-6145 |
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CMS ANNOUNCES $246,829 GRANT TO HELP REDUCE STAFF TURNOVER AT LOUISVILLE, KY. NURSING HOME
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mark McClellan, M.D., Ph.D. today announced a $246,829 grant to a Louisville, Ky. nursing home to help reduce the turnover rate among its nurses and nursing assistants.
The grant was sponsored by U.S. Rep. Anne M. Northup of Kentucky, who represents Louisville in the House of Representatives.
The grant was awarded to the James S. Taylor Memorial Home, a 122-bed facility that serves minority patients in a low-income area in urban Louisville. The project’s overall objective is to increase the retention rate of the home’s nursing and nursing assistant employees from 16 percent to 80 percent.
“The nursing home intends to achieve this goal by employing an outside organization that will train and mentor incoming nurses and nursing aides,” Dr. McClellan said. “The home also will use a project coordinator who will work to increase employee training, education and retention.”
When these goals are reached, the nursing home expects to lower hiring costs. This will allow more funds to be used to meet the needs of patients now mostly covered by Medicaid. The retention program also will increase the satisfaction of nursing home patients who requested the same nurse or nursing assistant be assigned to care for them.
“The James S. Taylor home provides an extremely valuable service to the local community, and this grant will ultimately help improve the quality of care the home is able to offer its residents,” Rep. Northup said. “I am pleased to have sponsored this grant, and thank Dr. McClellan and CMS for awarding this important funding.”
This grant was set aside by Congress for the Taylor Memorial Home. Funding is provided under the fiscal year 2004 appropriations for the Department of Health and Human Services. CMS is part of HHS. The grant is for no more than one year.
