In the Aug. 30 Democrat there was a full-page ad paid for in part by the nursing home industry trade group, the American Health Care Association, bemoaning the shortage of state funding and available health care workers.

In Tampa recently, nursing home industry representatives held a news conference to convey the same message - that they can't hire enough nursing aides to meet staffing requirements passed during the 2001 legislative session.

How can this be? The new law has been widely hailed as a victory for the nursing home industry. The Florida Health Care Association even went so far in their celebration as to play the theme song from the movie "Rocky" at its recent convention. But now when the time has come to hold up their end of the bargain, they say they are facing "a real crisis."

If there is a crisis, it is a crisis of their own making.

These same representatives had repeatedly made two key points about why homes were so consistently short of staff: that hiring is difficult in a "full-employment" economy and, second, a lack of state funding.

Recent economic indicators show that unemployment is up, the economy is slowing and plenty of people are looking for work. As for the second point, the Florida Legislature allocated an additional $76 million so that homes could hire more staff. This is in addition to a $31 billion increase in federal funds over the next five years.

The problem isn't a shortage of available nursing aides, according to a certified nursing assistants' task force report released last year. With more than 10,000 new CNAs entering the Florida job market each year, it found there are more than enough applicants. But poor working conditions, low pay and a virtual absence of benefits resulted in an almost 100-percent annual turnover of staff - and a reluctance of even new CNAs to work in nursing homes.

With the stocks of the big nursing home chains steadily on the rise and with multimillion-dollar bonuses becoming common in this arena, the for-profit nursing home operators are simply out of excuses.

If nursing home chains such as Vencor (now Kindred) can pay a multimillion-dollar bonus to its CEO, and if IHS can offer a $55 million severance package to its president, then certainly front-line caregivers can be paid a living wage.

The answer to the staffing crisis is simple: Increase the pay of nursing staff, offer a real benefits package and treat staff with respect. Then and only then will you find that qualified people will be willing to work once again in a nursing home.

Tampa attorney Jim Wilkes is the founding partner of Wilkes and McHugh, P.A., a law firm representing nursing home residents. He is a vocal opponent of the for-profit nursing home industry.

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