Nursing home operator seeks skilled workers
“All of these small towns are gonna die and these people are all going to go to Monroe, to Jackson, to surrounding areas to find employment. If these little towns dry up…Look at Newellton. Newellton used to have a nursing home. What’s in Newellton now? Nothing! That’s what happens to your communities,” expresses Delbert Wilbanks, co-owner of Deerfield Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Delhi.
The seat of Wilbanks’ concern is the lack of Certified Nursing Assistant skilled laborers.
“Without being able to hire the staff that we need, it’s tough to stay open. Eventually, if that nursing home closes, you’re looking at probably closing the hospital, as well, because a large part of their admits come from the nursing home. We have people in and out of the hospital all the time. So if we close, number one, you’re looking at higher unemployment. You’re looking at a huge loss of property taxes to your municipality. The mayor will tell you quickly we’re a huge part of the tax base in a small town. And then you look at your hospital who has skilled beds, and again, we’re admitting a lot of patients there. If that hospital dies out, if the nursing home dies out, you’re looking at probably over fifty percent of your employees in a small town. That causes your whole tax base to that town to implode. It’s just going to dry up. It will cause your whole town to dry up,” shares Wilbanks, with a facial expression matching the seriousness of his message.
Wilbanks will discuss this issue during a press conference at 10 a.m. April 25 at Deerfield Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.
The root of his message is very sobering for citizens in the Delhi community and to northeast Louisiana at large.
The even larger implications of not being able to create skilled workers for these towns is that businesses will not consider moving to a town void of healthcare services. Lack of healthcare services also affects the educational opportunities the city is able to provide.
Many of Delhi’s educators are spouses of healthcare workers. Without a healthcare system, it will be a challenge to attract qualified teachers. The lack of skilled laborers, especially in small communities, creates a very serious detrimental economical domino effect that carries the mark of wiping out rural towns.
This is why Wilbanks is reaching out to Louisiana Delta Community College. He is not alone. Nursing homes spanning from the westernmost boundary of LDCC’s 2100 square mile jurisdiction across the central territory and now expanding into the easternmost section of the state are calling upon the College to help train and fill their CNA shortage. It’s not just the technical skills that Wilbanks desperately needs.
“If we don’t educate that part of our community and not just from a nursing standpoint, but teach some of the morals and ethics we need to try to rebuild our small communities because, without it, we’re going to lose them,” says Wilbanks.
Delhi Mayor and a hospital administration representative will be on hand during the press conference to speak to the widespread effect of failing to attract and keep skilled laborers, can have on their small community.
“It’s about education, says Wilbanks, “We have to educate the public about how very serious this challenge is.”
Delhi plant Hydro, formerly known as Sapa, and LambWeston recently called on the College to assist in preparing local residents to meet their skilled labor crisis. LDCC brought the classroom training to Delhi to allow residents to train in their hometown. More and more businesses are looking to the community college for community labor challenges.