York, PA – Shapiro Administration officials from the Departments of Health (DOH), and Aging (PDA) visited Country Meadows of York-West today to highlight how Commonwealth investments have helped strengthen the long-term care workforce and improve resident safety.
Governor Josh Shapiro’s 2025-2026 budget proposal includes $7.5 million to invest in more quality investment projects (QIP) for long-term care facilities.
“Residents at nearly 100 long-term care facilities across the Commonwealth have benefitted from quality investment pilot projects over the past two years,” said Secretary of Health Dr. Debra Bogen. “Continuing to invest in these efforts benefits both the residents living in the facilities and the health care professionals who are dedicated to delivering the care older adults rightfully deserve.”
More than 80,000 Pennsylvanians reside in over 700 nursing homes throughout the state. Country Meadows of York-West, a personal care home (PCH), used $105,000 in QIP funding to help build out its workforce and improve resident safety with the implementation of anti-fall software. The software senses movements and provides alerts of resident falls and risk of falls, allowing staff to respond quickly to safety issues; the average response time was four minutes.
Over the past two years, QIP investments led directly to significant improvements in participating long-term care facilities, such as:
27% reduction in staff vacancies;
35% decrease in the average number of residents evaluated at medical facilities; and
56% decrease in skilled nursing home health citations.
Thirty-seven facilities in rural areas have benefitted from QIP initiatives, accounting for $3.1 million of the total amount spent in QIP initiatives in just one year.
“Direct care workers are not only amazing people, but they are also the keystone of Pennsylvania’s long-term services and supports, helping older adults live as fully and independently as possible. Communities must support these workers across the spectrum of direct care services to develop a career path that sustains them and encourages them to grow professionally,” said Secretary of Aging Jason Kavulich. “Pennsylvania’s 10-year plan for older adults, Aging Our Way, PA, will refresh the blueprint developed by our Long-Term Care Council to improve wages, benefits and training and establish a career ladder for care workers so they can continue to support others.”
To support QIP initiatives and continue providing services that protect Pennsylvania’s older adults, Governor Shapiro’s 2025-2026 proposed budget includes:
$20 million through the PENNCARE appropriation to enable Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) to better meet the needs of older adults;
$7.5 million to support more quality investment projects at long-term care facilities through DOH’s Long-term Care Transformation Office; and
$5 million to educate, train, and recruit nursing professionals through tuition support, ensuring a steady pipeline of highly trained professionals.
Watch Governor Shapiro’s full budget address to a joint session of the House and Senate here. See the Governor’s full remarks as prepared for delivery here. Read more about Governor Shapiro’s 2025-2026 budget proposal. Explore the Governor’s 2025-2026 Budget in Brief here, or visit shapirobudget.pa.gov to learn more.
Editor’s Note: Video downloads and photos from the news conference at Country Meadows of York-West are available on PAcast.
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