Dear editor:

As a nursing home administrator in 2025, I witness firsthand the devastating impact of our ongoing staffing crisis. Severe workforce shortages in long-term care have already stretched the industry’s ability to provide quality care to residents. Now, Gov. Walz’s proposed budget cuts nursing homes reimbursements by $700 million over four years. These budget cuts threaten to care that seniors and their families depend on.

We need legislative leaders to understand that without adequate funding, we cannot offer competitive wages or benefits, leading to even greater turnover and burnout among dedicated caregivers. This directly affects the well-being of our seniors, as lower staffing levels result in delayed care, medication errors, and decreased attention to residents’ needs.

Policymakers must recognize the real-life consequences of these budget reductions. Rather than cutting nursing home reimbursements, Minnesota should continue to invest in our workforce by fully funding our value-based reimbursement (VBR) system. A bipartisan proposal that has dramatically improved the wages of our workforce by nearly 70% over the last nine years. Cutting Minnesota seniors in not what I expect of a One Minnesota message Gove. Walz has been promoting since he was elected. Legislative leaders on both sides of the aisle need to STOP the cuts to Minnesota Seniors.

Brian Hinrichs

Tracy

— Brian Hinrichs is executive director at Accura HealthCare which operates Prairie View Senior Living in Tracy