Two years into pandemic, we’re better prepared to fight off virus variants
By
Alicia Lasek
Dec 02, 2021
Despite the threat of the quickly spreading and highly mutated omicron coronavirus variant — which has just landed in the U.S. — we are safer than we were before the pandemic, some experts say.
Heated COVID-19 nursing home hearing elicits appeals for employee investment, more immigrant workers
By
Joe Bush
Sep 22, 2022
Many problems that afflicted nursing homes before the pandemic were thrust into the spotlight because one-fifth of the nation’s pandemic-related deaths have been connected to nursing homes.
J&J vaccine pause may be short, but deep concerns about staff hesitancy mounting
By
Kimberly Marselas
Apr 16, 2021
Two days after federal officials pressed pause on Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, health and public policy leaders predicted it will return to use — but not without causing ongoing concern among...
SNFs have made great strides in preventing, treating COVID, docs say
By
Joe Bush
Oct 14, 2022
Nursing facilities are now highly skilled at preventing COVID-19 illness and staving off serious outcomes, said doctors in a panel discussion this week. But pandemic challenges linger.
Rare nursing home sessions on grief, isolation seek solutions for patients, staff
By
Jessica R. Towhey
Feb 06, 2023
A rare series of structured conversations on bereavement and grief in nursing homes is revealing key insights into the emotional, physical and psychological trauma of repeated loss experienced by residents...
Major study links nursing home staff vaccinations to lower resident deaths, calls for updated booster...
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jan 03, 2023
Policymakers should rethink their “stagnant” approach to booster shots, argue the researchers behind a new, first-of-its kind national study linking COVID-19 vaccination of nursing home staff to significantly...
COVID-19 vaccine mandate deadlines push providers
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jan 17, 2022
With every state but Texas now covered by rules mandating when workers must be vaccinated against COVID-19, providers are facing increased urgency around ongoing vaccination campaigns.
‘We will not go back’ to early pandemic restriction, CMS leader says
By
Kimberly Marselas
Joe Bush
Oct 17, 2022
Promoting a return to normalcy, a top CMS official said Sunday that nursing homes will not return to the stringent isolation policies of the early pandemic.
BREAKING: Congressional study eviscerates for-profit nursing homes
By
Kimberly Marselas
Sep 21, 2022
Dire conditions inside for‑profit nursing home chains contributed to deadly, early-pandemic conditions inside facilities, while “convoluted corporate structures” may have helped companies “obscure...
BREAKING (Updated): High Court grills attorneys over worker COVID vaccination mandates (live)
By
Kimberly Marselas
James M. Berklan
Jan 07, 2022
The Supreme Court should issue a stay and allow a federal vaccine mandate for healthcare workers to go into effect immediately because “any delay in implementing that requirement would cause preventable...