Lack of healthcare access in pandemic linked to some preventable hospital stays
By
Kristen Fischer
Jul 20, 2023
People who missed out on health-related appointments and procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic were more apt to have hospital stays that may have been preventable, according to a study in The BMJ.
Also in the News for Tuesday, July 11
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jul 11, 2023
New study underscores link between loneliness, death … Increased antibiotic use linked to severe COVID-19 … Demand for healthcare staff still outpacing number of available workers … Short-term resident...
Back to business as unusual
By
Jean Wendland Porter
May 30, 2023
On May 11, 2023, the Public Health Emergency ended in the United States. Obviously, the whole world is celebrating the diminished COVID-19 numbers and the drop in COVID-related deaths. But we’ve been...
What the Kirkland verdict means for emergency preparedness
By
Norris Cunningham
May 29, 2023
There is little doubt that leaders at Life Care Centers of America breathed a huge sigh of relief, as did the entire skilled nursing industry, when a federal jury found that Life Care Center of Kirkland,...
House COVID panel spreads nursing home blame, looks to next pandemic
By
Kimberly Marselas
May 18, 2023
Three years after the height of the pandemic forever transformed nursing homes, a new Congressional panel took a stab Wednesday at finding someone to blame for deadly COVID-19 miscalculations.
Three years in, pandemic jabs keep coming
By
Jessica R. Towhey
Mar 10, 2023
Ahead of Saturday’s third anniversary of the pandemic’s official declaration, one infection preventionist who spent much of COVID’s first year on frontlines in multiple states reflected on the challenges...
COVID-19 may still be in your buildings, but PHE waivers are ending
By
Angela Rinehart
Mar 08, 2023
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has confirmed that the waivers initiated during the public health emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic will be ending on May 11, 2023. Most prominently,...
Researchers identify weak links in nursing homes’ COVID defense
By
Jessica R. Towhey
Feb 07, 2023
Vaccination rates for COVID-19 for nightshift workers in nursing homes significantly lag their dayshift counterparts, creating a higher-risk environment for residents and other staff, according to new...
Federal COVID vaccine mandate didn’t cause staffing shortages: research
By
Jessica R. Towhey
Jan 10, 2023
The federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate did not significantly reduce staffing levels in nursing homes despite predicted “gloom and doom” scenarios by opponents of the vaccine and mandates at any level,...
Also in the News for Wednesday, Jan. 4
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jan 04, 2023
COVID hospitalizations approach last summer’s high, but flu and RSV cases waning … NC nursing home to pay $126K after storm-related staff shortages, two patient deaths … FDA decision on experimental...