The Empty Beds of Eureka: How Washington's New Safety Rules Are Starving Rural Nursing Homes to Death

A well-intentioned federal staffing mandate is forcing country homes to close, leaving families with a brutal choice: drive three hours or bring Mom home.

In Eureka, Kansas, the local nursing home survived tornadoes, farm busts, and a pandemic, only to be brought down by a math problem. Under Washington's new federal staffing mandate, the 40-bed facility was ordered to employ a registered nurse 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There are exactly two registered nurses living within a thirty-mile radius, and both already work at the county hospital.

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