Massachusetts adopts regulations strengthening nursing home oversight
[October 16, 2026]
By GRACE FERGUSON/The New Bedford Light
The Massachusetts Public Health Council on Wednesday approved
regulations designed to strengthen oversight of long-term care
facilities and stop irresponsible nursing home owners from putting
residents at risk.
The new rules expand the Department of Public Health’s authority to
review the track records of the companies seeking licenses to run
nursing homes, and to take action when nursing homes break the rules.
They also introduce new standards, including staff training
requirements.
The regulations had been pending since February and were written to
finalize changes the Legislature passed in 2024 in a landmark long-term
care law. The two-year delay between the law and final regulations had
puzzled and frustrated elder advocates.
The elder advocacy group Massachusetts Dignity Alliance had supported
the long-term care law and the proposed regulations that followed it.
“Better late than never, right?” said Jim Lomastro, an elder advocate
with alliance who has experience leading and inspecting healthcare
facilities.
The council came together on Wednesday for the first time since the
Boston Globe published a Spotlight investigation into nursing home
acquisitions on Sept. 28. The Globe found that public health officials
had approved new, out-of-state nursing home owners with track records of
poor care.
The Light has also reported on proposed nursing home sales in recent
weeks, including transfers of local nursing homes to new owners with no
track record or a history of regulatory scrutiny in other states.
Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein referenced the Spotlight
investigation in his opening remarks at Wednesday’s meeting, saying it
“raised serious questions” about the department’s oversight of long-term
care facilities.
“We must be accountable to the public,” Goldstein said. “We can do
better, and we must do better.”
The commissioner said the department is moving to revoke the licenses of
Eli Mirlis, a nursing home owner highlighted in the Globe report for
buying up facilities and rerouting money away from resident care, while
misrepresenting his credentials on license applications. Mirlis’ nursing
homes are now under “enhanced” monitoring, Goldstein said.
He added residents and their families should be able to trust that
nursing homes will care for them responsibly. He said the department is
working to provide better oversight of the industry, including with the
new regulations.
“The regulations are not the beginning or the end of our work,”
Goldstein said. “They strengthen the tools available to a team that is
doing this work every day.”
The rules allow health officials to conduct broader reviews to determine
the “suitability” of potential and current nursing home owners as part
of the licensure process. The management companies and real estate
holding companies associated with those owners will now be part of that
review.
[to top of second column]
|
 The department now has the authority
to appoint temporary managers for a nursing home when state
inspectors find serious problems, and it can levy higher penalties
on nursing homes that don’t follow state regulations.
Nurse aides, who provide most of the hands-on care
to nursing home residents, face a new requirement to be certified in
CPR and administering naloxone, the opioid overdose reversal
medication. But the department pushed back the date when those
requirements will go into effect, because the nursing home industry
shared concerns about the cost and logistics, said Marita Callahan,
director of policy and health communications for the department’s
Bureau of Health Care Safety and Quality.
The original proposed regulations required nurse aides hired after
Nov. 1, 2026, to have the training, and for nurse aides employed
before that date to get trained by May 1, 2027. The final
regulations require training for new nurse aides by Jan. 1, 2027,
and for nurse aides hired before that date by Oct. 1, 2027.
The new regulations also set out rules for so-called small-house
nursing homes, which are smaller facilities designed to provide care
in a more home-like setting.
During the hearing, council members generally shared positive
feedback on the regulations.
“It is reassuring to see that the department has put a focus on
suitability of ownership,” said council member Kahoney Anderson.
“That is very important in long-term care.”
A few council members asked about the new enforcement actions
against Mirlis’ nursing homes and how the department can avoid
similar situations in the future.
A license revocation can be subject to an extended legal appeal,
said Jaclyn Gagne, a lawyer for the state health department. Health
officials can appoint temporary managers or send inspectors to more
closely monitor the facility in the meantime if necessary, she
added.
In response to a question about how the department can prevent
future nursing home buyers from cutting staffing levels, Goldstein
said the suitability review process allows officials to consider
staffing and indicators for quality care at other facilities a buyer
already owns. Nursing home operators can expect a different process
in future license applications and renewals, he said.
“We are now explicitly telling the industry that we are looking at
staffing,” he said.
The council voted to approve the regulations unanimously.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
