As joy returns to nursing homes, cause still to worry

While the threat of COVID-19 and the need for precautions aren’t over, there is one long-awaited move to a semblance of normalcy: Many residents at nursing homes are once again experiencing the joy of visits, something that wasn’t possible last year.

The expansion of visitations is a change that long-term facility residents and their families desperately want and need, but they also make us nervous.

Some of the most heartbreaking stories during this pandemic belong to those who live and work in long-term care facilities.

For more than a year, parents, grandparents and great-grandparents who live in long-term facilities — where they faced the highest risk from COVID-19 — have endured profound sadness, loneliness, depression, anxiety, grief and death.

Patty Ducayet, state long-term care ombudsman at Health and Human Services, has been “fighting” to get visitation restored.

“There is nothing compared to what nursing home residents went through. Think about the people who have not only been locked up, but had their roommates, neighbors and people who took care of them die,” she said. “They feel trapped. They say this isn’t living. There has been loss of cognition. They have lost weight. Dementia worsens over time, and this doesn’t help.”

Federal and state medical experts credit an increase in vaccinations and advances in COVID-19 mitigation for the expansion of visitation, but are such visits safe?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 3.7 million doses of vaccine were administered to long-term care facility residents by March 25.

This is impressive, but we wonder if it will be enough, especially because of the extreme vulnerability of older people.

This past week, the Center for Public Integrity and National Public Radio published a report that found while most nursing home residents are getting vaccinated through the Federal Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care, half of nursing home employees nationwide are choosing not to get vaccinated.

Their analysis found that in Texas, only 54 percent of the 95,917 long-term care workers received both vaccines through the federal program.

The CDC is working with nursing home trade associations to study the reluctance, but action is needed.

Medical workers who care for our most vulnerable should be required to get a vaccine, just as babies and students are required to get vaccinations. While this may sound bold, we have seen — especially in Texas — that being meek won’t save lives.

At this point, COVID-19 cases are down in Texas and Bexar County. The positivity rate for Bexar County — the percentage of people tested for the virus who turn out to be infected — dropped to 2.1 percent last week, according to the city of San Antonio website.

Health officials consider any rate below 5 percent a sign that virus transmission is at a manageable level. One year ago, the rate was 11.6 percent. On July 12, the rate was 24.2 percent, and on Jan. 4, it was 23.2 percent.

But the virus isn’t gone, and we can’t forget where we once were. Bexar County has suffered more than 3,150 COVID-19 deaths. We can’t assume those residents most vulnerable to COVID-19 are completely safe.

As of March 18, Texas Nursing Facilities self-reported 69,892 COVID-19 positive cases — 3,606 in Bexar County. There were 8,870 COVID-19 deaths in Texas — 454 in Bexar County, according to a Health and Human Services dashboard.

At Southeast Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in San Antonio, one worker and 18 patients have died from the coronavirus — the most deaths of any nursing home in San Antonio. At least 75 of 84 residents and 29 workers at the 116-bed facility have tested positive for the virus, according to the Express-News.

In recent months, Southeast nursing home’s Facebook page tells of a facility that is trying to move on. On Jan. 15, it posted that many of the staff and residents had their first vaccine. In February, there were updates about fresh exterior paint. This past week, photos showed smiling, masked residents receiving festive Easter baskets.

Federal, state and local leaders must ensure that as residents in long-term nursing facilities receive visitors, and feel love and joy, they also remain safe and healthy.