October is Residents’ Rights Month, an annual observance organized by the national advocacy group Consumer Voice. This year, New York’s Department of Health posted two lists of assessed nursing home staffing penalties totaling more than $8 million. The penalties cover staffing shortfalls in 2022 and 2023, not this year.
If someone you love lives in a New York nursing home, here is what the lists show, what they miss, and how to check a home’s staffing yourself.
The Two 2026 Penalty Lists
The department posted one list on February 9, 2026, and a second on June 30, 2026. Key details:
- The February list names 20 nursing homes, with assessed penalties totaling about $4.26 million.
- The June list names 25 homes, with assessed penalties totaling about $4.15 million.
- Together, the lists account for roughly $8.4 million.
- Both cover the same seven quarters, April 2022 through December 2023.
- The penalized homes range from Chautauqua and Niagara counties to the Bronx and Queens.
- Neither list includes a home in Nassau or Suffolk County.
The lists show what the department assessed, not what has been paid. The department calls each one non-final and says a home’s absence does not mean it will avoid penalties for the periods covered. Neither list reaches 2024 or later, and enforcement is ongoing, so check the department’s postings for current status.
What New York Requires
Under Public Health Law § 2895-b, every New York nursing home must provide an average of 3.5 hours of care per resident per day. At least 2.2 of those hours must come from certified nurse aides. At least 1.1 must come from licensed nurses, a group that includes registered nurses (RNs) and licensed practical nurses (LPNs).
Those figures are averages across the whole facility. They do not mean each resident receives 3.5 hours of individual care. They are also a floor. The same law requires homes to employ enough staff to help each resident reach and keep the highest practicable physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being. The state’s staffing regulation, 10 NYCRR 415.13, adds that meeting the hours minimum is no defense when a home fails to provide sufficient nursing care. Our earlier article on falls and bedsores in New York nursing homes explains how staffing ties to those injuries.
Federal law no longer sets a number. A 2024 federal rule would have required 3.48 total nursing hours per resident per day, plus an RN on site around the clock, phasing in from 2026. In 2025, federal trial courts in Texas and Iowa set those requirements aside. Congress also barred the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) from enforcing them until September 30, 2034. CMS repealed them, unenforced, in a December 2025 Federal Register rule effective February 2, 2026. Federal regulations (42 C.F.R. § 483.35) still require “sufficient nursing staff” and, unless a waiver applies, an RN on duty at least eight consecutive hours a day.
How the State Enforces Its Standard
The Department of Health checks compliance every quarter. It compares the nursing hours each home reports through the federal Payroll-Based Journal with the home’s daily resident count. According to the department’s posted penalty list, a home that falls short can be fined up to $2,000 for each day it was out of compliance. The department must post a penalty online at least 30 days before acting on it. Three factors can reduce a penalty:
- extraordinary circumstances, such as a natural disaster or declared emergency;
- an acute labor shortage in the home’s region, as determined by the Commissioner of Health; and
- a verifiable labor dispute involving a union.
A shortage designation alone is not enough. Under the regulation, the home must also show it made reasonable attempts to find staff during the shortfall and took steps that quarter to protect residents’ health and safety. For 2024, the department found an acute shortage of LPNs in the New York City metropolitan area, which includes Nassau and Suffolk counties. Homes there that missed the part of the standard tied to LPNs may qualify for a reduced penalty if they meet those conditions.
A home also cannot blame a shortage it could have foreseen and planned for, or one involving routine staffing needs.
Checking a Loved One’s Nursing Home
Because the lists trail by years, families need more current sources:
- Posted staffing information. New York requires each home to post its nurse staffing information, in a department-approved form, where residents, families, and staff can see it.
- Care Compare. Medicare’s Care Compare website shows each home’s nursing hours per resident per day, RN hours, weekend staffing, and staff turnover. Per CMS’s September 2026 technical guide, the figures are built from quarterly payroll reports, so they show a past quarter rather than who is working this week.
- Direct questions. Ask how many aides work nights and weekends and how often agency staff fill shifts.
- Complaints. The Department of Health’s nursing home complaint hotline, 1-888-201-4563, takes calls 24 hours a day. Staff answer from 8:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. on weekdays, and complaints can also be filed online.
- Advocacy. New York’s Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program advocates for residents and helps resolve complaints about their care and rights.
When Short Staffing Leads to Injury
A staffing shortfall is not an injury by itself. Claims usually arise when missed or delayed care harms a resident, such as:
- falls during transfers or bathroom trips made without help;
- pressure injuries (bedsores) from infrequent repositioning;
- dehydration or weight loss when help with meals falls behind;
- medications given late or missed.
A resident harmed by neglect may bring an ordinary negligence claim in New York. Public Health Law § 2801-d adds a statutory claim when a home deprives a resident of a right or benefit and the resident is injured as a result. The right or benefit must be one created for the resident’s well-being by a contract, statute, or regulation. Under the statute, “injury” includes physical harm, emotional harm, death, and financial loss, so the harm does not have to be physical. These remedies add to other claims rather than replace them. A home can defend itself by pleading and proving it used all care reasonably necessary to prevent and limit both the deprivation and the injury. Our page on nursing home negligence and abuse covers these claims in more detail.
A state penalty is not a finding that any resident was harmed. A penalty reduction for a labor shortage also does not, by itself, decide whether an injured resident has a claim. If you suspect neglect, request the resident’s medical records, photograph any visible injuries, and keep dated notes. Then speak with an attorney promptly, because time limits may apply.
Speak With a New York Nursing Home Negligence Lawyer
If a family member was hurt in a nursing home that may have been short-staffed, an early review of the records matters. The attorneys at the Law Offices of Rudolph F.X. Migliore, P.C. can evaluate your potential claim at no cost. We work with co-counsel networks experienced in New York nursing home cases, including claims under Public Health Law § 2801-d. We can help you understand which records will be needed and how your case fits the law.
Call our Commack office at 631-543-3663 for a free, confidential case evaluation, or use our online contact form. There is no fee unless we recover compensation for you.
This article is for general informational purposes and is not legal advice, and it reflects information available as of its publication date; laws, regulations, and case developments change over time. Each case depends on its specific facts, and any filing deadline that may apply should be determined by an attorney. This article does not evaluate any particular facility, and a state staffing penalty is not a court’s determination of liability. No outcome can be guaranteed in any litigation.