Deadly fungus Candida auris has spread across more than 27 states, with Nevada and New York leading as hot spots. Given that nursing homes are particularly prone to the drug-resistant fungal infection, experts are concerned about its continuing climb ever since the government’s report last month, and media outlets continue to shine a light on […]
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
On the heels of warnings about the spread of deadly fungal infection of Candida auris, the World Health Organization (WHO) is now raising alarms about widespread resistance against antimicrobial drugs — with long-term care settings particularly at risk of some resulting “superbugs.” Medical experts and government agencies are cautioning that unless the use of antimicrobial […]
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 […]
The federal government late last week officially renewed the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) for an additional 90 days. The extension was to be expected for leaders in the nursing home industry as the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has said it would give stakeholders 60 days notice if the PHE is not […]
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 […]
People over the age of 50 who have received an initial booster dose at least four months ago may now receive another, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on Tuesday. The Food and Drug Administration recommended a second booster dose of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Modena COVID-19 vaccine and the Centers for […]
As state and federal policymakers clamor to set nursing home minimum staffing standards – most recently in the Biden administration’s expansive reform proposals – leaders in the space are asking a pointed question: Why now? The industry has already lost nearly 238,000 caregivers in the last two years – an issue that has only been […]
The total number of COVID-19 cases found in nursing homes has been on the decline, both for staff and residents, for the past several weeks, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The 3,542 COVID-19 cases found in nursing home residents last week is the lowest number reported since the week […]
After receiving a thumbs up from both the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this month, the work now begins for long-term care pharmacies to administer COVID-19 booster shots for nursing home residents and staff. Others eligible for a third Pfizer shot include those ages 50 to 64 who […]
Nursing home residents who were immunized against COVID-19 with Pfizer’s vaccine could soon receive booster shots following a recommendation made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A CDC panel endorsed the Pfizer shots for people 65 and older, those ages 50 to 64 who have underlying medical conditions, as well as adults 18 […]
As calls for vaccine mandates have grown louder in recent weeks for the long-term care industry, new data shows that nursing home staff with the most patient contact appear to be the least likely among their health care colleagues to get the COVID-19 vaccine. While the percentage of fully vaccinated nursing home residents ranges from […]
Two top federal agencies called for a halt on using the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine for COVID-19 after rare blood clots were reported — a pause that has the potential to slow the flow of vaccines to long-term care facilities for ongoing immunization efforts. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control […]
The vaccination efforts against COVID-19 that began in late December have begun to bear fruit in the form of steep declines of new COVID-19 cases and deaths among nursing home residents, one of the largest nursing home trade groups reported Tuesday. And with new cases dropping by 82% among nursing home residents — who have […]
Two of the largest trade associations for nursing homes announced a goal of vaccinating approximately 75% of the roughly 1.5 million nursing home workers across the U.S. by the end of June. The American Health Care Association (AHCA), which represents more than 14,000 primarily for-profit nursing homes and long-term care facilities, and LeadingAge, which represents […]
Good infection control standards are the same for skilled nursing facilities across the U.S. — both in the sense of federally mandated requirements, and in the sense of the concrete conditions that are necessary to prevent the spread of contamination. This was true even before a pandemic that shook the world in 2020, with ongoing […]
When the effort to vaccinate long-term care workers and residents began to gather momentum, hesitancy among workers became a prominent issue well before the first shots were administered. The issue of whether or not workers — burned out by the ongoing tragedy of resident and staff deaths from COVID-19, personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages, and […]
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last week stopped reporting the number of COVID-19 doses distributed to the agency’s pharmacy partners as part of the Federal Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program as vaccinations expand to other settings. But it has expanded information on some metrics surrounding the efforts to inoculate residents on […]
Multiple studies emerged over the course of 2020 suggesting correlations between the incidence of COVID-19 in a community and the rates of infection nursing homes within that community — and a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) joins the list. The new Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) found that […]
With two COVID-19 vaccines officially authorized for use, the immunization of health care workers and long-term care facility residents is finally underway in earnest. The Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorizations (EUAs) to Pfizer’s (NYSE: PFE) COVID-19 vaccine on December 11 and to Moderna’s (Nasdaq: MRNA) on December 18. There are several considerations […]
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