Nursing Home Staffing Campaign

The Nursing Home Staffing Campaign (NHSC), spearheaded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), seeks to address critical nurse staffing shortages in nursing homes across the United States. The initiative provides financial incentives, such as tuition reimbursements and living stipends, to recruit Registered Nurses (RNs) to work in qualifying nursing homes or in oversight roles within state survey agencies for a minimum of three years. The overarching goal is to enhance the quality of care and compliance with federal regulations in nursing homes through targeted recruitment and support. CMS has allocated $80 million for this program, with anticipated awards ranging from $5 million to $20 million per recipient, distributed over five budget periods across a five-year performance timeline. A total of 5-10 cooperative agreements will be awarded to eligible entities. These include nonprofit nursing organizations, educational institutions, and entities with demonstrated capacity to manage large-scale recruitment and fund administration. Eligible applicants must exhibit significant experience working with nursing schools and tracking compliance in similar programs. Individual nursing homes, state agencies, and organizations with potential conflicts of interest are ineligible. Applicants must propose to serve one or more of six designated U.S. regions and demonstrate national outreach capability. The program has three distinct phases: an infrastructure setup phase (6 months), a recruitment phase (18 months), and a work completion phase (3 years). Key responsibilities include administering up to $40,000 in student loan reimbursements or $10,000 in stipends per RN, recruiting nurses from diverse and underserved populations, and ensuring compliance with work commitments. Applications must include a detailed project narrative, budget narrative, organizational risk assessment, and supporting documents. The submission deadline is **March 7, 2025**, and applicants are encouraged to submit an optional Letter of Intent by **January 24, 2025**. Applications are to be submitted via Grants.gov, and organizations must maintain active registrations in SAM.gov and Grants.gov throughout the award period. Evaluation criteria for applications include experience and competency in administering similar programs (25 points), operational proposals addressing program requirements (25 points), budget narratives and administrative cost efficiency (20 points), timeline and milestones (20 points), and communications plans for collaboration and reporting (10 points). Proposals with strong timelines, low administrative costs, and robust outreach plans are preferred. Awardees will collaborate closely with CMS to implement the program, including hosting learning networks, coordinating with nursing homes and state agencies, and submitting regular performance and financial reports. Post-award, recipients must comply with cybersecurity, nondiscrimination, and federal reporting requirements. CMS reserves the right to adjust funding or terminate awards based on performance evaluations.