Nursing Home Capacity Mixed Bag Around Upper Cumberland

Reports of tight nursing home capacity around the nation show similar trends in the Upper Cumberland.

NHC McMinnville Wellness Coordinator Amanda Sain said in the last three weeks, the facility has seen an uptick in the number of patients. She said their location is licensed to have 115 beds, and recently has been averaging an occupation of 113.

“I think there could be several contributing factors, like flu is rampant in the community right now,” Sain said. “Which, for the elderly population, that will land them in the hospital where they’re weak, where they need some rehab.”

Sain said post-COVID, she feels that more people are more comfortable with the prospect of long-term care now. She said people have become less hesitant to consider long-term care or rehabilitation when they need aid.

Sain said the facility has not seen effects on its operations with the higher-than-normal numbers. She said if trends continued and the facility reached its max capacity, they would have to eventually turn away patients.

Scott Stevens is the Public Relations Director for Overton Health and Rehab. He said their facility is not seeing the trend of tight capacity.

“It kind of goes on a weekly basis,” Stevens said. “Some weeks you have more admissions and some weeks you have more people going back home. But we usually maintain some capacity of beds available for our community.”

Stevens said to avoid issues like current trends, they try to operate with a high staff level in case there is a greater need for more assistance. He said the

Tight capacity issues have led to delays for hospitals in finding spots for patients.