Latinos Twice As Affected By Nursing Home Closures

A recent report examined the rate at which nursing homes closed during the past decade and found that Latino and African-American neighborhoods were about twice as likely to see such a closure. Latino neighborhoods were 37% more likely and African-American neighborhoods 38% more likely to see closures of nursing homes than areas with fewer minorities, according to a report from Businessweek.

All these closures have resulted in a 5% drop in available nursing home beds — a trend surely exacerbated by the high rate of closures in Latino neighborhoods. The closures constituted 1,776 stand-alone nursing homes and 1,126 of hospital-based nursing homes (about half of the country’s total), representing a total loss of 16% of all Medicare/Medicaid-certified nursing homes, or 5% as I mentioned.

With the aging Baby Boomers, this lack of beds is going to be a significant problem, but as the Latino population ages and there are no available beds in their neighborhoods, it is going to create bigger problems. Are Latinos going to have to care for their elderly relatives at home? Will there be an increase of in-home nursing? Will elderly Latinos return to their countries of origin to receive affordable care?