Friends and neighbors,

The closure of Arlington's Skilled Nursing and Assisted Living Facility is a painful blow to our area. Nearly 40 families are now scrambling to find new homes for their loved ones – possibly far from the lives they've built in our community. This isn't just a local tragedy. It is a stark reminder of the crisis affecting our entire state's elder care system.

Facilities across Minnesota, like Arlington’s, are still buckling under the weight of worker shortages – which will be made far worse by President Biden's federal staffing mandates. These quotas do nothing to improve care quality. Instead, they will tie the hands of rural facilities and hurt the vulnerable seniors who depend on them.

We had an opportunity to do the right thing. In 2023, Republicans proposed $1 billion to rescue nursing homes that were in dire circumstances. Despite a $19 billion surplus, Democrats would only agree to $300 million – and even that was a fight. We could have done so much more, but Democrats refused to make it a priority.

Arlington's closure demonstrates why this issue is not settled. Nursing homes are still running out of cash and on the brink of closure. We must do more. Our aging loved ones deserve better than what they are getting.

Though the emergency assistance of 2023 has helped, we know more closures are coming without action. We need to eliminate the red tape. We need to boost retention. We need to invest in recruitment and build a strong pipeline of staff.

This isn't about politics. It's about protecting our most vulnerable loved ones.

If you have any questions, please reach out.

God Bless,