Yesterday's New York Times highlighted a little-discussed issue that I have seen grow worse as the total number of nursing home beds has decreased: an absolute shortage of beds for men seeking a nursing home placement. As noted in the article, the majority of nursing home beds are in semi-private rooms. Since over 75% of nursing home residents are women, that leaves precious few available beds for our elderly male population.
I have seen a number of instances recently in the Hudson Valley where a family has had to scramble to find a nursing home bed for an elderly male parent or other relative. With the possibility that Valley View may be shut down this summer, and the general decline in nursing home beds throughout the region, I don't see the problem improving anytime sone.
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