On September 26, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey signed into law critical reforms that will lay the groundwork for addressing the safety and staffing issues in the state’s nursing homes.

The Long-Term Care Act’s creation of a new LongTerm Care Workforce and Capital Fund will provide much-needed state support for infrastructure investments and new workforce training programs for nurses, CNAs, home health aides, homemakers and other direct care workers, that include 1199 members. The oversight provisions will also help ensure that long-term care facility owners are truly committed to the communities they serve and prevent private equity funds and hedge fund financiers from exploiting vulnerable patients and workers for profit.