RICHMOND, Va. — Outgoing Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin struck a celebratory tone during a Tuesday press conference as he announced what he said were the successes of his executive order that aimed to strengthen the oversight of nursing homes. Meanwhile, some consumer advocates in attendance expressed mixed feelings over whether the initiatives will truly drive meaningful change.
Youngkin described the his administration's recent actions to address growing concerns about nursing home quality and the state's response to those concerns as "not complete today" but a "giant step forward."
In August, the governor directed the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) to overhaul its Office of Licensure and Certification (OLC). OLC is the office that licenses healthcare facilities and inspects and investigates them for regulatory compliance. Many of its oversight responsibilities are required by the federal government to ensure providers that receive Medicare and Medicaid funds are meeting basic health and safety standards.
Youngkin's executive order came on the heels of CBS 6's investigative reporting on the mounting frustrations that families expressed about poor quality of care in facilities.
“The media, Tyler Layne, has been tirelessly bringing us stories as he has listened to the community and family members and friends and exposed some of the poor conditions and experiences of many residents," State Health Commissioner Dr. Karen Shelton said.
What we also found was that OLC was failing to inspect nursing homes and respond to a skyrocketing number of consumer complaints in a timely manner. All the while, regulators said they observed worsening care across the industry as OLC's vacancy rate of inspectors had topped 40% by summer 2025.
“Processes were inefficient. Hiring time was incredibly too long, and the office had a general reputation of just not being helpful," VDH Chief Operating Officer Christopher Lindsay said.
Commenting on the office's staffing challenges, Youngkin said, "I hate to be abrupt, but it required a leadership change."
Now, Youngkin said nearly all of those previously open positions are filled, and the office is being headed by a new team. Additionally, OLC launched a new complaint portal that's more user-friendly and will allow the office to better track its complaint data.
Christopher Lindsay detailed those efforts in a previous interview with CBS 6 last month.
However, federal data shows that the hiring initiatives have not yet produced timelier inspections. As of Tuesday, 86% of Virginia's nursing homes were overdue for routine inspection, which should occur at least once every 15 months. That number is worse than what it was when the executive order was signed and places Virginia as the second worst state in the country for overdue inspections.
When CBS 6 presented that data Tuesday to Youngkin's Health and Human Resources Secretary Janet Kelly, who said she only had time to answer one question from us, she maintained that the transformed office will yield results.
"I can be confident because we finally have the right team in place. It's taken us a little while, as we know, to make those hires, to make sure they're the right hires," Kelly said. “We did it right, not necessarily as fast as you would have liked, but we did it right. They’re the right people, and they’re going to get those inspection rates down, but we had to get the vacancy rates down first."
The governor further touted the advisory board he formed as part of the executive order. The board was directed to make recommendations to health officials on ways to improve quality and accountability. The body, made up of experts, providers, and advocates, held three meetings between September and November, but officials have not yet released the board's final report. Youngkin said it is expected later this week.
“They went to work, understanding first that they have a real role, not just to be decorations, but to drive forward this mission," Youngkin said.
Advisory board member Joanna Heiskill, whose mother suffered in a nursing home according to her testimony, said, “The board matters because there is still critical work to be done, and lives are depending on it.”
But some members have mixed feelings on what, if anything, they really accomplished. While resident advocate Sam Kukich said it was "valuable" to have a "seat at the table" for what felt like the first time ever in Virginia, she questions how their work will impact the residents.
“I think they left us just a little bit short on saying everything was a success. It's like maybe [VDH] is doing their job better, but the people in the nursing homes, with regard to the state of Virginia, half of them are on the nursing home abuse watch list. That's nothing we should be proud of," Kukich said.
She called Tuesday's event an opportunity for officials to "pat themselves on the back" for getting VDH to where it should have been all along, as underlying systemic failures in long-term care remained overlooked.
“One question I guess I would have for the governor, and I know he's going out, are we ever going to address the profits that owners are making over the lack of care that the residents don't get?” Kukich said.
Letitia Edwards, whose mother is currently in a nursing and experienced "a lot of neglect" in her previous facility, is not a member of the board but has attended the meetings and was present at Tuesday's event. She said it seemed the administration didn't place enough of an emphasis on the "meat and potatoes."
"I'm hoping that we can focus on those specifics with training, staffing to resident ratio, which I think is should be a priority," Edwards said.
Meanwhile, board member Jim Sherlock, who writes about nursing home issues for Bacon's Rebellion, said he believes VDH's efforts will translate "into a great deal of increased oversight by inspectors."
"Up until the last six months, they simply haven't had the infrastructure to enforce the law. They will have, finally, the infrastructure to do their job," Sherlock said. "These people deserve all the credit in the world."
CBS 6 has requested to speak directly with Governor Youngkin multiple times about the executive order, to no avail, and attempted again at Tuesday's press conference. However, Youngkin only gave prepared remarks from the podium and declined to take questions.
"Governor, can we pull you aside real quickly?" reporter Tyler Layne asked.
"I have got to hustle," Youngkin said.
"Just a couple questions?" Layne asked.
"I am half an hour behind on where I was supposed to be. Somebody will help you, I'm sure," Youngkin said.
Multiple board members told CBS 6 they're imploring Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger's administration to continue and even expand upon the advisory board's work. Spanberger has not directly said what she'll end up doing with the executive order but generally agreed with the importance of nursing home accountability and timely inspections.
Heiskill hopes, if anything, the public attention the governor brought to these issues will prompt nursing homes to make positive changes.
“We don't want it to take a number of months before its effect is showing up in the nursing facilities. I would hope that, given everything, these nursing facilities now are on guard and would actually make a conscious effort now to do better," Heiskill said.
Dr. Shelton's message to the industry was, “To these medical facilities that are already providing excellent care, I applaud you. For those who do not, VDH will provide oversight to hold them accountable."
CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
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