Nursing Homes, Senior Care Facilities Get CDC Attention

According to a recent Wall Street Journal article and survey, there are at least 10,700 Coronavirus deaths in U.S. nursing homes and long-term care facilities among more than 35 states that either report data online or responded to requests for information. The virus has hit at least 4,800 facilities and the number of people infected, including residents and staff, totals more than 56,000¹.

We know the elder population is extremely vulnerable to this pandemic. Protecting them, as well as those living in nursing homes and long-term care settings, is a matter of growing public concern. More than 2.1 million seniors live in nursing home, skilled nursing and residential care facilities. The realities are these:

• Most who live in residential care settings require health assistance.
• Half are totally dependent on Medicare and social security to cover their long-term care costs.
• Margins in senior care facilities are shrinking.
• Demand for facility-based senior care services is growing.

Facility-based senior and long-term care is an opportunity for innovation and growth. From considering where sanitizer stations and handwashing sinks are placed, to how HVAC systems could be designed in the future to prevent the spread of airborne contaminants, public attention to coronavirus-related infection and death rates will continue. How a facility operates, the infection controls that are in place, and how the physical facilities contribute to resident and staff safety are more critical than ever before.

Every senior care operator should assess the degree of infection-related risks their physical facility, frontline staffing and clinical practices expose. All are essential. And many are paying attention.

In addition to following CDC guidelines, ERDMAN partner Solvere Living, based in St. Petersburg, FL, offered the following as an added measure for their 23 managed communities across the United States.

“As a company, we look at every single resident of every community every day. We are doing resident screenings every day and have added oxygen saturation levels to our screenings where we have had positive COVID identified in a community, as well as increased resident screenings to three times per day. Our SVP of Wellness, a nurse practitioner, and Managing Director of Wellness, an RN, BSN, are reviewing every single resident screening daily for context and intervention needs to ensure we are looking at the whole person and all medical indicators, not just overt COVID symptoms. Additionally, in communities with positive COVID cases, we arm team members with an extra layer of protection, K95 masks, to both residents and to team members.”

Contact us for additional information or for assistance with your risk assessment.

CDC Advisory for COVID-19 Response

The CDC issued this advisory to nursing homes and senior living facilities: “Act now to implement ALL COVID-19 preparedness recommendations, even before cases are identified in their community.

Address asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission, implement source control for everyone entering a healthcare facility (e.g., healthcare personnel, patients, visitors), regardless of symptoms.

• Cloth face coverings are not considered personal protective equipment (PPE) because their capability to protect healthcare personnel (HCP) is unknown. Facemasks, if available, should be reserved for Health Care Providers.
• For visitors and residents, a cloth face covering may be appropriate. If a visitor or resident arrives to the facility without a cloth face covering, a facemask may be used for source control if supplies are available.

Dedicate an area of the facility to care for residents with suspected or confirmed COVID-19; consider creating a staffing plan for that specific location.”²