by James C. SherlockThe Commonwealth of Virginia is home to what the federal government rates as one of the worst collections of nursing homes in the country. The average daily occupancy of Virginia’s nursing homes has been just over 28,400 in the past year, representing 87% occupancy of the total beds across the system. Federal regulations do require nursing facilities to conduct self-assessments at regular intervals to determine operational capacity. And consider that Virginia has far worse staffing in its nursing homes funded by Medicare and Medicaid. Three out-of-state chains, until June 1, 2026, controlled 18, 28, and 37 nursing homes in Virginia, respectively.