The pandemic has made sudden casualties to nursing homes in Pennsylvania.
By March 2021, approximately 12,600 deaths had been reported in long-term care facilities with more than 1,500 people statewide, according to the Atlantic Covid Tracking Project.
The Brighton Rehabilitation & Wellness Center – a site, one of the nation's largest covid-out breaks – described 65% of Beaver County's Covid-19 incidents and 90% of county deaths at the peak of the pandemic.
“Covid Hit, and we realized that no one had anticipated or had never experienced before,” said Chase Cannon, executive director of the Pennsylvania Coalition of Related Medical and Living Communities. “How do you control infection? How do you prepare in the future?”
Care facilities have been understanding the best answers to these questions over the past five years.
They are currently focused on keeping sufficient personal protective equipment on hand. Staff will receive additional training to ensure they know best practices to reduce the spread of infections and disinfect surfaces.
Emergency preparation is at the highest point now, with some nursing homes employing designated infectious disease specialists. More stringent protocols have been introduced for disinfection during the crisis, testing sick residents, and communicating with patients and families.
“It's one of the silver linings,” Schamberg said. “We have recognized the importance of creating a comprehensive contingency plan for future outbreaks in the pandemic.”
He said Covid protocols in nursing homes have evolved. If the patient tested positive, the patient would no longer be quarantined themselves. In most facilities, they are now placed in groups that separate illness from health. In many nursing homes, Schaumberg said there may be another wing or bed where covid-positive patients stay.
Even five years after the first wave of Covid-19 infections, the virus is still growing its head. However, long-term care advocates said the virus is the same pathogenic and not circulating, resembling seasonal influenza and RSV infection.
“The pandemic may be over, but Covid is still part of our daily work,” Schaumberg said.
The facility continues to test patients and employees who may be contracted for the virus, keeping affected patients and workers away from healthy patients. Masks will remain common, Schaumberg said, but other measures like goggles and gloves are mainly phased out.
Also, Susan Saxinger, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of Assisted Living, is prolonged uncertainty and stigma around care facilities.
“Personal care providers and assisted living providers have done their absolute best to sustain life,” she said. “It's a continuous tactic to ensure that families and consumers know they always get the best care.”
Nationally, she said aid living facilities provide greater satisfaction. Over 90% of senior living facilities residents report high satisfaction, and over 80% of families believe they provide the model.
