Candace Campbell Mark D. Obenshain Tony Wilt Senator Chris Head Chris Runion Jason Miyares Glenn Youngkin WHSV - TV 3 WDBJ7
Mark Sickles, Chair of the Virginia House Health and Human Services Committee, responded to my concerns with the following:
“we are very concerned about elder care in our licensed facilities. We are trying to find a balance between carrot and stick. The industry has a very serious labor shortage. And "full funding" has not been achieved.
Unfortunately, the Governor recently lined-item vetoed a rate increase the GA was attempting to give. It is a complicated subject and a depressing situation. We must do a better job. Thank you for your input. If you would like to meet, I would appreciate learning more. If so, please email andrew@marksickles.com and we'll set something up.”
This isn’t a “labor shortage,” Delegate Sickles. It’s corporate greed—propped up by legislators more loyal to lobbyists than to the people suffering and dying in Virginia’s nursing homes.
And with all due respect, we don’t need more carrots or sticks. We need accountability. No amount of coaxing or gentle nudging will change a system where facilities like Harrisonburg Health & Rehab can rack up years of abuse complaints, operate in “horrifying” conditions, and still get reimbursed with taxpayer money while lawmakers shrug.
This isn’t about finding the right tone with an industry that’s already shown it’s willing to exploit every loophole. This is about enacting clear, enforceable standards that protect people, not profits.
The General Assembly could call an emergency session tomorrow and pass Dale’s Law. It could require minimum staffing ratios, cut off funding to repeat violators, and make whistleblower protections real. But it hasn’t—because too many in office are still cashing checks from the very corporations responsible for this crisis.
Let’s stop pretending this is complicated. It’s not. It’s a moral failure. And the cost is being paid in human lives.