Pandemic exposes shortcomings at nursing homes
It’s become shorthand to refer to New York as the capital of the outbreak in the United States. But nursing homes are the true epicenter. It’s not a uniquely American challenge. The World Health Organization estimates that about half of the coronavirus-related deaths in Europe have taken place in such facilities.
The percentage is believed to be considerably lower in the United States, closer to 20 percent. In Connecticut, some officials estimated that about half of the confirmed deaths would be traced to nursing homes.
Regardless of the percentage, nursing homes should be the focus of gathering data to identity trends, strategies and solutions. Instead, this crisis reveals terrifying flaws.
Among the most agonizing decision in life is whether to place a loved one in a nursing home. Along with the emotions are a considerable financial cost.
The turmoil families face as access to nursing homes is restricted during the pandemic is exacerbated by the reality that best practices have not been followed for years. Had infections and deaths in nursing homes been tracked better across the nation, available data might save lives now.
The issues are mirrored in Connecticut. A C-HIT analysis revealed that 75 of the 108 nursing homes with reported cases were previously cited for infection-control violations.
The reputation of nursing homes is rapidly tilting from that of places of tender care to warehouses where elders are neglected.
These are not hospitals, and low-wage employees are often under-trained. The pandemic has accelerated the need to channel supplies in their direction, to install training, and most importantly, to create better methods of oversight.
Connecticut leaders have been nimble in recent days, but continue to chase the curve. The coronavirus death toll at Whispering Pines Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in East Haven had reportedly risen to 22 by Tuesday. It was an alarming example, but even Edgehill in Stamford, and Nathaniel Witherell in Greenwich, which each boast five-star ratings, were unable to thwart the presence of COVID-19.
The Connecticut Association of Health Care Facilities and LeadingAge Connecticut, the state’s largest nursing home associations, invited more government scrutiny. The presidents of the agencies appropriately pointed to the need for consistency.
Gov. Ned Lamont issued an executive order threatening $5,000 fines for each nonreporting violation, designed to take some of the burden off of the overwhelmed state’s chief medical examiner’s office.
There are major steps that should be taken immediately, such as staff training and the creation of a task force, and longer term, including the formation of a national database of nursing homes.
These problems will not vanish with the pandemic’s decline. Officials need to be steadfast in studying data in anticipation of an echo of the crisis later this year. And the aging baby boomer population will surely increase the population of the facilities in coming years.
It took our most at-risk citizens to expose vulnerabilities in responding to this crisis. Once again, we have an opportunity to learn from our elders.
There are major steps that should be taken immediately, such as staff training and the creation of a task force, and longer term, including the formation of a national database of nursing homes.