ALBANY â State senators voted on Monday to pass 11 pieces of legislation as part of a package to reform oversight and care at nursing homes in wake of recent controversy over state COVID-19 policies and publishing public health data from congregate facilities.
Legislators moved bills to become law that would require all nursing homes to spend at least 70% of a facilityâs revenue on direct patient care; for each facility to disclose a list of violations and actions taken at the facility to potential residents and family; to prominently display its most recent federal rating on-site and online; bolstering the stateâs ombudsman program for seniors and families to easily access care advocates and to create a standardized program to allow personal- or compassionate-care visitors at nursing homes; and more.
CLEVELAND Louise Yasinow Shultz, 87, died Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021, in Cleveland.
She was born in Cleveland on Jan. 30, 1934, the daughter of Dr. Aaron B. and Rose Makoff Yasinow. She lived in Warren most of her adult life until she moved to Stone Gardens in Beachwood in 2018.
She was a January 1952 graduate of Cleveland Heights High School and a 1956 graduate of The Ohio State University with a degree in vocal music education. She was married to Dr. Bernard S. Shultz from 1953 until his death in 2012.
Louise was an elementary music teacher in the Warren City Schools for 14 years and a substitute teacher in several school districts. She had a second career of 17 years with the Area Agency on Aging in Youngstown as coordinator of volunteers for the Long Term Care Ombudsman Program. After her retirement, she worked as a caregiver for Comfort Keepers.
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Two designated national pharmacy chains, CVS and Walgreens, say they have vaccinated over 34,000 residents and staff in about 400 Michigan nursing homes. That suggests that a majority of the 45,000 residents in skilled nursing settings have gotten at least one of the two-dose vaccine regimen in a process that still appears bumpy.
For older residents not in care facilities, the pace of vaccination appears to be much slower. That data show that 89,760 people age 70 or older have gotten at least the first dose of the vaccine nearly 8 percent of the 1.2 million Michigan residents 70 and older, through Tuesday. That may not seem like much, but the rate is far higher than in many neighboring states.
Demand better oversight of long-term care
Reading the headline Dec. 27, Seniors question vaccine schedule, served as a reminder of the health problems our elderly population faces.
The federal government recognized this problem in the 1970s when it created the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program to provide oversight for senior programs.
The agency has staffed offices in every state, with a number of district offices and volunteers who advocate for the health, safety, welfare and rights of residents in nursing homes, assisted living facilities and family care homes.
Because I worked for the program in another state, I know how effective it can be, and I also know how ineffective Florida s program is, because it does not have the funding it needs to achieve its objectives.