The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and its Secretary, Xavier Becerra, need to “do its part” to increase Covid vaccination rates among nursing home residents, starting with easing logistical issues that continue to be barriers to uptake. That’s according to LeadingAge President and CEO Katie Smith Sloan, who also cited the benefits of […]
CDC
As nursing home leaders look ahead to 2024, it might still be worthwhile keeping the lessons of the Covid-19 pandemic in mind, with the goals to retain leadership and rebuild trust gaining a new significance. Among nursing home staff, residents, their families and the general public, developing trust has been a Herculean task for many […]
As Covid cases rise across the country and nursing home operators prepare for another ‘tripledemic’ with the flu, RSV and Covid hitting at once, only 2% of staff are up-to-date on Covid shots while the national average sits at 17% for residents, according to data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A […]
With the country well into flu season, the majority of nursing home workers remain unvaccinated for the flu as well as Covid-19. Fewer than one in every four health care workers received up-to-date Covid vaccines, and less than half have gotten the latest flu shot, according to 2023 data collected by the Centers for Disease […]
Nursing home staff’s trust in their leaders and federal health care agencies eroded during the worst of the pandemic – and the rebuild will be slow going. Industry executives and advocacy leaders, who said that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have been unable […]
Thousands of nursing home residents are facing delays in getting vaccinated for Covid-19 now that the federal government isn’t issuing vaccines, and most long-term care operators have yet to start administering shots. Many nursing homes will not begin vaccinations until well into October or even November, according to an article in the New York Times […]
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspections of nursing homes have dropped precipitously so far this year even as Covid hospitalizations tripled over the summer for health care facilities overall and infections among nursing home workers “quadrupled” – this is on top of surges in RSV and the flu. OSHA inspections registered an 84% drop, […]
Covid cases are beginning to rise again, steadily at first and now with a sharper increase over the past five weeks, especially in large metropolitan areas. Hospitalizations across the country rose by nearly 19% in the last week to 15,067, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is especially […]
In the aftermath of issuing a series of action plans, the Moving Forward Nursing Home Quality Coalition – a national coalition of 120 nursing home stakeholders – held a meeting Wednesday to share more details about the action plans to improve quality in nursing homes, with providers present saying that the coalition’s work is a […]
Following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendation to administer the RSV vaccine to seniors aged 60 and older, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra issued a statement Friday backing the recommendation. Becerra said the move will ensure stronger protection for nursing home residents ahead of winter months. The vaccines are the first licensed in […]
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommended doing away with limits on visitation and group activities at nursing homes and called for more infection prevention research, training and control as well as staffing solutions in a report issued on Monday. The government agency shared these and other recommendations for the Department of Health and Human Services […]
The majority of nursing homes will not be able to take advantage of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) updated mask policy as many are still in high transmission zones for Covid-19. The CDC last month issued updated guidance that removed its blanket masking policy to better reflect vaccine efforts, infection-induced immunity and […]
Some nursing homes will be able to remove the blanket indoor mask requirements that have been in effect for the last two and a half years — with the exception of those in areas with “high” Covid transmission levels. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued the guidance late Friday, just one month […]
Nursing home operators finally got a peek behind the curtain after the federal government announced an initiative to establish minimum staffing requirements back in February. In an industry stakeholder call on Wednesday, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Social Science Research Analyst Pauline Karikari-Martin said the agency is using a “multi-faceted” approach to proposing […]
Chain-operated nursing homes may want to reconsider how they standardize their operation across the portfolio. Nursing home chains that customize service delivery and standardize customer mix tend to see an improved financial performance, while nursing home chains that standardize their customer mix tend to have better clinical outcomes. That’s according to University of South Florida […]
Large data sets related to skilled nursing over long periods of time are vital to government entities at this point in the pandemic — the same data can also inform an industry changed by the patient-driven payment model (PDPM), in terms of what therapies are working for residents. Jason Menges, vice president of national accounts […]
Operators hope that planned booster shots, distributed through a streamlined process, will help protect the skilled nursing community against the “twice as transmissible” delta variant, a phrase used by President Joe Biden in a press briefing Wednesday. The Biden administration announced plans to deliver COVID-19 booster shots directly to long-term care residents and staff eight […]
The families of 11 seniors who died after widespread outbreaks of Legionnaires’ disease at an Illinois home for veterans are suing the long-term care facility for negligence. Since July 2015, the disease has killed 13 residents and sickened at least 61 residents and workers at the Illinois Veterans Home in Quincy, Ill., according to a new […]
Skilled nursing facilities are a prime breeding ground for Legionnaires’ disease, and an outbreak could prove costly for the operator — both in terms of care outcomes and additional expenses — according to a recent presentation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC analyzed 2015 data related to outbreaks of the potentially […]
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