Boosters on the way: LTC residents, healthcare workers may top fed’s list after CDC approves 3rd shot
By
Alicia Lasek
Aug 16, 2021
The Biden administration has secured 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses as part of a strategy to provide additional shots to already vaccinated priority groups this fall, investigators have been told....
CMS opens visitation to nursing homes after year of isolation
By
Alicia Lasek
Mar 11, 2021
“Facilities should allow responsible indoor visitation at all times” — no matter the vaccination status of resident or visitor, the agency now says. Its action follows the remarkable, apparent...
New workplace COVID safety rules add protection and reporting requirements
By
Kimberly Marselas
Diane Eastabrook
Jun 11, 2021
Fifteen months after the start of the pandemic, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Thursday issued an emergency temporary standard designed to protect healthcare workers — specifically...
Fed’s booster OK too late? Nursing home loses 8 to coronavirus outbreak this fall
By
Alicia Lasek
Nov 17, 2021
A Connecticut nursing home has weathered a facility-wide COVID-19 outbreak that has sickened 89 residents and staff. Booster shots were not yet authorized when the first cases appeared, the operator reports.
Dehydration plagues nursing home residents with COVID in facility study
By
Alicia Lasek
Sep 16, 2021
Clinically significant dehydration is very common among residents with COVID-19 — especially those with dementia or delirium, investigators found. Care providers should be ready with IV fluids and a...
Functional impairment from COVID-19 may persist long after ICU discharge, studies suggest
By
Alicia Lasek
Jul 21, 2021
Certain physical and mental health problems persist for years in some hospitalized survivors of acute respiratory diseases, suggesting that disability may be permanent for some severely ill COVID-19 patients...
COVID-19 variant fuels outbreak among nursing home residents, vaccinated or not
By
Kimberly Marselas
Mar 19, 2021
A previously unidentified variant of COVID-19 has infected both vaccinated and unvaccinated residents of a Kentucky nursing home, making clear that providers must remain vigilant about exposure even after...
Updated: 22 states petition CMS to repeal COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers
By
Lois A. Bowers
Nov 17, 2022
A coalition of 22 states led by Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen (R), today formally called on the Biden administration to withdraw its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for nursing home and other healthcare...
New COVID-19 test kits promised as LTC operators contend with shortages, slow PCR results
By
Alicia Lasek
Feb 03, 2022
Five million Celltion brand rapid tests will be shipped over a five-week period to facilities as they contend with testing supply shortages and slow lab turnaround times.
States need to step up with nurse aide waiver clearer, providers say
By
Kimberly Marselas
Aug 31, 2022
The formal extension of a waiver program that relaxes certification requirements for some nurse aides was widely embraced by providers a day after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced...