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...
Nursing homes find visitor COVID-19 testing back in play
By
Kimberly Marselas
Dec 22, 2022
Health officials in at least one major US city are once again asking nursing home visitors to take COVID tests before entering, as community transmission there has ticked dangerously high this month.
More than two-thirds of skilled nursing providers “sometimes” or “often” staff shifts without enough workers, according to a new survey by recruitment and hiring management firm OnShift. The first...
One-third of nursing homes cannot meet behavioral health needs
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jun 09, 2019
Behavioral health needs are going unmet in as many as one-third of the nation’s nursing homes, while almost half employ staff without adequate behavioral health education.
States push CMS to repeal COVID-19 vaccine mandate
By
Kimberly Marselas
Lois A. Bowers
Nov 18, 2022
A coalition of 22 states is taking a new angle in its attempts to overturn a national mandate requiring that healthcare workers be vaccinated against COVID-19: They’re simply asking federal regulators...
Nursing homes may be targeted for turning away patients being treated for opioid addiction
By
Kimberly Marselas
Apr 18, 2018
Federal investigators could begin cracking down on nursing facilities that refuse admission to patients being treated for opioid addiction, experts are warning.
‘Raining for 4 years’: Historic nonprofit nursing home maintains legacy amid deluge of challenges
By
Kimberly Marselas
Apr 26, 2024
The Chapin Home has survived two pandemics, two world wars, the Great Depression and other economic calamities to serve the poor and ailing of New York City across three centuries.
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...
As staffing minimum looms, other workforce solutions simmer on back burner
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jun 02, 2023
A long-awaited federal rule that could rewrite how nursing home owners and operators staff their buildings is in the final stage of review before being released publicly.
Less post-acute care worsens outcomes, Medicare Advantage patients reveal in new study
By
Kimberly Marselas
Aug 21, 2023
Fewer Medicare Advantage enrollees report using post-acute care services than traditional Medicare beneficiaries. But even when they do use them, a new study finds that those MA patients report more undesirable...