RICHMOND, Va. β With the acknowledgement that Virginia has "not done a very good job... in terms of oversight and holding people accountable" related to nursing home care, Delegate Delores McQuinn (D-Henrico) said she's taking the first step to figuring out what reforms are necessary.
It's an issue that she said "keeps her up at night," ever since she learned through CBS 6's reporting that a facility in her district, Henrico Health and Rehabilitation Center, had been identified by the government as one of the worst-performing nursing homes in the country. The facility has been enrolled into the federal Special Focus Facility program, in which each state selects at least one nursing home with a record of serious and repeated safety and health violations for increased oversight.
Watch: Henrico nursing home identified as one of the worst care facilities in the country: 'It's like a madhouse'
"After reading and hearing about it, I dare not sit on the sideline and not do something," McQuinn told CBS 6.
She introduced a bill in the 2026 General Assembly session that, if passed, would form a workgroup to complete a comprehensive study on nursing home quality outcomes, staffing levels, inspection and enforcement activities, ownership structures, financial practices including related party transactions and real estate arrangements, Medicaid reimbursements, public transparency, and disparities in access.
The group would consist of nursing home residents and their families, industry staff, advocates, and regulators. The study would be due by November 2026.
βIt is looking at ownership. It's looking at financially, who's getting paid and how much resources are going back to those individuals that are there? We're looking at the safety," McQuinn said. "It's a comprehensive study that would give us a greater understanding of what's going on and then how we can address some of those challenges."
McQuinn became emotional while presenting the bill to a General Assembly committee on Thursday.
"I try not to get emotional, but this is one of those things that is shameful. It's really shameful that as an institution, that we have not done a better job," she said during the meeting.
The committee ultimately voted to advance the measure, with only one concern raised by Republican Delegate Timothy Griffin surrounding whether the study could lead to additional mandates on a private industry.
"My concern, and my question is, could the study conclude that private nursing homes are going to have new requirements that they're going to have to fund?" Griffin said.
Democratic Delegate Kathy Tran countered, saying, βI would hope that we don't presuppose the outcome of any study and that any study places first and foremost the well-being of the most vulnerable people that those facilities are caring for, rather than the interests of any corporations or businesses that are running those facilities.β
Other legislation addressing nursing home quality and accountability that are being considered by the General Assembly include bills that would:
- Set a minimum staffing standard
- Require ownership disclosure when facilities change operators
- Continue the state's efforts to hire inspectors
Additionally, a bill from Republican Senator Glen Sturtevant aims to penalize nursing homes that pay themselves excessive rent. His proposal followed CBS 6's investigations that found some nursing homes paid high rent to a related party landlord, under the same parent company, which experts said could take away financial resources from bedside care.
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Va. lawmaker seeks to penalize nursing homes that pay themselves excessive rent
Sturtevant's bill was scheduled to go before a senate committee on Friday, but it was moved to a different committee, so no action was taken. Sturtevant said he has heard from industry lobbyists that they are opposing the legislation.
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In-Depth Investigations: Voices from Virginia Nursing Homes
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