The Florida Health Care Association announced today that it would be enacting a new state-approved program, called the Florida Hearts and Hands program, which would allow nursing homes to hire Personal Care Attendants that would provide basic care services to their elder residents. This would free up more highly trained nursing professions that would be able to provide more skilled care as the threat of COVID-19 continues.
In a statement, Emmett Reed, the Executive Director for the FHCA, commented that “this program really is a win-win for Florida, addressing critical staff shortages during a time of tremendous need at nursing homes while creating new job opportunities for individuals who find themselves unemployed through no fault of their own.”
As such, Reed assured they are committed to “provide the necessary training, and in short order these new Personal Care Attendants can be helping older residents in their daily routines.”
The idea was brought forth to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, arguing that it would be modeled after a program that was enacted by FHCA’s Indiana counterpart. In turn, the program was quickly approved, and it is scheduled to run until May 1st with the flexibility to be extended if need be.
