Nursing homes were in-focus at a White House summit Thursday, as individual providers from North Carolina, Minnesota and New Jersey were invited by the Biden administration to present their strategies for and experiences with promoting vaccination acceptance.
Long-term care sector leaders also joined the summit, pursuing collaboration on vaccination and respiratory illness prevention along with other key healthcare organizations and government agencies.
Prominent senior care organizations the American Health Care Association and LeadingAge were among the groups that attended — joined by representatives of the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, AARP, the Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine and other healthcare groups.
The summit comes as the long-term care population could be especially vulnerable to illnesses — such as COVID-19, RSV and the flu — due to increased vaccine hesitancy.
Building collaboration and evidence-based best practices were key focuses at the summit, according to Linda Couch, senior vice president of policy and advocacy at LeadingAge.
“Vaccines save lives. Success in vaccine uptake requires a coordinated effort between providers, residents, staff, communities, and the government. It’s critical we all work together on this initiative,” she told McKnight’s Long-Term Care News Friday.
“We’ve partnered with both the CDC, HHS and the Department of Housing and Urban Development on several different initiatives to increase vaccine and booster uptake among residents and staff and to educate communities about the importance of vaccination,” she added. “This respiratory season will be no different as we partner with HHS on their upcoming fall campaign.”
That HHS campaign — “Risk Less, Do More” — was revealed by HHS Assistant Secretary Jeff Nesbit Thursday, with plans to roll out digital and print educational materials, social media ads and pop-up clinics this fall.
Among the skilled nursing providers that presented at the summit were Homestead Hills of Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Episcopal Church Home of the Gardens of Saint Paul, Minnesota; and Hudsonview Health Care Center of North Bergen, New Jersey.
Top sector leaders expressed appreciation for the summit and the chance to work alongside government partners on this issue Friday.
“We are thankful for the opportunity to collaborate with the Biden administration and key stakeholders on vaccinations, especially as we are considering the upcoming respiratory virus season and its impact on vulnerable seniors,” David Gifford, MD, chief medical officer at AHCA, told McKnight’s after attending the summit. “Long-term care providers will continue to echo the important messages about the positive impacts of vaccines, as we recognize our role in our larger healthcare system.”
