RICHMOND, VA – Speaker Don Scott and Delegate Mark Sickles, Chair of the Health and Human Services Committee, released the following statement in response to a CBS 6 report revealing that the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) failed to use millions of federal dollars intended for nursing home oversight - even as inspections fell drastically behind schedule and consumer complaints increased.

“After Governor Youngkin’s own state health commissioner blamed a lack of federal funding for the administration’s failure to conduct nursing home oversight, we now learn that his administration failed to use the very federal funds available to address the backlog of inspections, complaints, and chronic understaffing.

“Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine fought to secure federal funding to improve nursing home oversight and ensure better care for our seniors. Governor Youngkin’s mismanagement and lack of urgency in addressing this ongoing crisis is unacceptable. Why did it take nearly three and a half years for this administration to realize there was a serious problem in our nursing homes? For years, Virginians have seen reports of unsafe conditions, poor quality of care, and delayed investigations – yet this administration has done little to fix it and has been quick to blame others. The buck stops with him.

“Failing to use available federal funds to strengthen oversight is another stain on the administration’s record and is not just irresponsible – it’s a betrayal of the families who trust the Commonwealth to protect their loved ones. While VDH has faced challenges for a long time, this administration needs to stop bragging about all the ‘progress’ they’ve made and do what they can to use all resources at their disposal, including federal dollars, to turn this mess around. 

“We should be providing the best care to our seniors – the people who spent their lives taking care of us. This failure of oversight has real human consequences, and it’s time for accountability.”

This comes after a 2023 federal performance review by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) found that Virginia failed to initiate investigations into the most serious complaints within the required three-day window. Currently, seven out of ten nursing homes in Virginia are overdue for inspection, ranking the Commonwealth as third worst in the nation for overdue nursing home inspections.

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