Senate bill calls for taxpayers to fund training for nursing home adm…

A bill that would establish a taxpayer-funded training program for nursing home administrators is working its way through the Iowa Senate.

Senate File 2063 has passed through a subcommittee and a committee for consideration by the full Senate. The bill would require the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing – the same agency that regulates and inspects nursing homes – to establish a pilot program for the training of nursing home administrators.

The program would allow individuals who are not fully licensed to serve as nursing home administrators for two years, with part of their salary funded by the state.

Applicants to the program would need to have an offer of employment from an Iowa nursing home that at some point has been awarded at least a three-star overall rating through the federal government’s five-star quality rating system.

Upon acceptance to the program, the trainees would be put to work in nursing homes, under…