CMS Accepting Nursing Home Commission Nominations Through Next Week, Report Due Sept. 1

The federal government on Thursday unveiled the nomination process for a recently announced commission on nursing home safety in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic — but interested parties have only until May 22 to throw their hats in the ring.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has partnered with an independent contractor, the non-profit MITRE Corporation, to select the members of its Coronavirus Commission on Safety and Quality in Nursing Homes.

The agency is looking for a wide variety of industry stakeholders — such as clinicians, building-level administrators, academics, residents’ family members, and medical ethicists — to produce a report about the past and future of nursing home care.

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“The Commission will conduct a comprehensive assessment of the overall response to the COVID-19 pandemic in nursing homes and will inform immediate and future actions to address the virus in order to safeguard the health and quality of life for an especially vulnerable population of Americans,” CMS announced.

President Trump initially announced the formation of the group at the end of last month, with an original meeting date of late May; that has since been pushed to early June, CMS said Thursday, with the final report due September 1.

“The tragic reality is that the coronavirus has had devastating effects on nursing homes,” CMS administrator Seema Verma said in a statement. “This inherent challenge makes a comprehensive review of the nation’s response in this area imperative, as we seek to protect nursing home residents both today and in the future.”

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Anyone interested in joining the commission has until 5 p.m. Eastern time next Friday, May 22, to submit an application on MITRE’s website.

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