Virginia Issues ‘Roadmap’ to Clear SNF Survey Backlog

The Virginia Dept. of Health (VDH) and its Office of Licensure and Certification (OLC) are implementing a “roadmap” to improve regulatory oversight for nursing homes in the commonwealth by addressing facility recertification inspections and complaint investigations.

The agencies said the goals of the plan are multi-pronged:

• Stabilize long-term care survey operations,

• Reduce the nursing facility recertification backlog,

• Standardize enforcement decision-making processes, and

• Construct internal infrastructure to sustain these gains over the long term.

Implementation will occur over three phases: immediate stabilization and recertification workload reduction; consistent enforcement and engagement framework; and building out a strengthened training, onboarding, quality assurance, workforce sustainability, and data systems regimented to support OLC’s overall mission, the state agencies said.

VDH and OLC said they are operating under clear guiding principles in the approach to overseeing and regulating nursing homes and long-term care facilities in the commonwealth:

• Resident health, safety, and quality of care remain the central priority for all operational, staffing, survey, complaint, enforcement, and data decisions.

• Oversight must be timely, consistent, transparent, and defensible, with clear documentation and legally sound regulatory action.

• Operational improvements must be realistic, measurable, and sustainable, grounded in actual workforce capacity, certification timelines, complaint volume, and contractor availability.

• Stakeholder engagement must inform system improvement while preserving OLC’s regulatory responsibility and accountability.

• Internal infrastructure must support long-term workforce capacity, staff readiness, quality assurance, and consistent statewide implementation.

• Data must guide decisions, monitor progress, identify risk, and support timely leadership action

Providers Applaud

In response, the Virginia Health Care Association and Virginia Center for Assisted Living (VHCA/VCAL), representing the state’s long-term care providers, said it appreciates the significant effort VDH has made in developing its roadmap to improve regulatory oversight for nursing homes in the commonwealth.

“The roadmap reflects substantial work by the [Governor] Spanberger Administration to strengthen the commonwealth’s oversight system while maintaining a clear focus on resident health, safety, and quality of care,” said Keith Hare, president and CEO of VHCA/VCAL. “We appreciate VDH’s commitment to a transparent, measurable, and sustainable approach, and we support efforts to ensure timely, consistent, and well-informed oversight across Virginia’s nursing homes.”

VHCA/VCAL is especially encouraged by the roadmap’s emphasis on stabilizing long-term care survey operations. The concerted effort to reduce the nursing facility recertification backlog is especially appreciated by providers, the group said.

Additionally, the steps underway to standardize enforcement decision-making, strengthen training and onboarding for VDH staff, improve quality assurance, and build the workforce and data systems needed to sustain progress over time are positive developments, VHCA/VCAL added.

“Residents, families, providers, and regulators all benefit when expectations are clear, survey processes are consistent, and oversight is timely and thorough,” Hare said. “VHCA/VCAL remains committed to serving as a constructive partner with VDH and the Office of Licensure and Certification as this important work moves forward.”

Progress Made

Within the last six months, VDH said it has taken a number of critical steps to improving the solvency and capacity of OLC.

“Coming into 2026, there were approximately 214 facilities that were in need of recertification inspections; since January 2026, that total has been reduced to 170, a reduction of 20.6 percent. The percentage of facilities within the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services window of 15.9 months to be inspected increased from 26.5 percent in January 2026 to 41.6 percent currently. And OLC has cleared all 2021 and 2022 facilities from the overdue list,” VDH said.

VDH and OLC said they are building a more disciplined, data-informed, and sustainable oversight model to reduce the backlog of inspections and investigations while maintaining focus on resident health, safety, and quality of care.

“The operational objective is to move OLC from a reactive posture to a disciplined, data-informed oversight model,” the agencies said.

Comments or questions? Contact Patrick Connole at pconnole@parkplacelive.com.