Expert insights on how the industry should evolve in response to COVID-19
by Sari Harrar, Joe Eaton and Harris Meyer, AARP, January 13, 2021 |
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En español | It s complicated. This phrase has become the default and arguably lazy response to many 21st-century challenges. But when it comes to finding ways to reform and improve America s nursing homes, it is sadly accurate.
AARP Bulletin. The institutions that serve so many older and infirm Americans were created based on rules and laws passed decades ago, when needs and expectations were different. Nursing home funding and oversight come in large part from government budgets that can be stingy. But most nursing homes are privately owned, meaning there is little transparency into their finances and operations. Are they, as they claim, pinching pennies to survive, or are they profiting at the expense of quality care?
WBFO s Tom Dinki reports.
At least 21 residents of the Elderwood nursing home in Williamsville have tested positive for COVID-19 during the last six months, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid.
Resident Eileen Folkerth is not one of them.
But, like all residents, she can’t participate in activities outside her room, due to safety protocols.
“All you have is TV,” she said.
Folkerth may get back to a more engaging routine and what she called a “more pleasant life,” with the help of a COVID-19 vaccination. She could receive it as soon as this week.
Portopiccolo bought more than 20 nursing homes during pandemic washingtonpost.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from washingtonpost.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday nursing home residents will receive the next 80,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, as the state worries about the health of their population s most vulnerable residents.
So far, Cuomo said around 4,000 of the 87,000 doses of the vaccine the state received from Pfizer and BioNTech have been administered, mostly to health care and frontline workers earlier this week.
But elderly residents of long-term care facilities will likely receive their first doses, which will arrive in the next days and be administered by CVS and Walgreen pharmacies starting Monday.
CNY nursing home sends 2 men home before Covid tests show they’re infected, families say
Updated Dec 16, 2020;
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A Syracuse nursing home recently sent two patients home before Covid 19 test results showed they were infected, their families say.
It wasn’t until the men were home for a few days and spending time with relatives and friends that they learned they tested positive. The families say St. Camillus did not tell them when the men were discharged it had tested them for the coronavirus and was awaiting results.
Ed Cathers, of Syracuse, drove to St. Camillus Dec. 3 to pick up his 79-year-old father, Joseph Cathers. The elder Cathers went to the nursing home for rehabilitation for 18 days after a fall. As his father was leaving St. Camillus, nurses encouraged him to continue his therapy at home so he’d never have to return to the nursing home, Cathers said.