Orders requiring long-term care facilities to accept discharged coronavirus patients are intended to help clear in-demand hospital beds—but they've also prompted sharp criticism from the nursing home industry, concerned families, and public health experts.
Gurwin had originally planned to house the patients arriving from hospitals and any other infected patients in a separate, 40-bed unit with its own entrance, dedicated staff and full protective gear, according to Almer. That’s in line with the CDC’sfor nursing homes to isolate patients known to be infected. The first discharged hospital patients began arriving the last week of March, Almer said, just a few days after the mandate took effect.
The rising number of infected residents means that it is not always possible to separate those who are known to be infected from those who are not. If a person outside the space dedicated to COVID patients becomes infected, his or her entire unit is isolated and treated as if any of the residents could be positive, Almer said. But the virus may still spread within the facility, especially to other residents within the unit.
State health officials say the March 25 guidance was intended to avoid discrimination against infected patients and to help hospitals manage their capacity. “The need to accept COVID positive cases was/is clear,” Dr. Maria Carney, Northwell’s medical director for post-acute services, said in an email. “There are also significant known risks of keeping older, vulnerable patients in a hospital.”
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Governor: Antibody survey shows wide exposure to virus in NYMore evidence is emerging that far more New Yorkers have had the coronavirus than the number confirmed by lab tests, officials said Thursday, offering insight that could help authorities decide how and how quickly to let people stop isolating from friends and return to work. Blood samples collected
Read more »
'Hip Hop Loves NY' Benefit Concert: How to WatchHip-hop heavyweights will (remotely) come together Thursday (April 23) for a coronavirus relief benefit concert to help out the heavily impacted state where the genre was born.
Read more »
NY partners with NJ and CT to launch contact tracing initiative - Business InsiderNew York state joined forces with New Jersey and Connecticut to launch a contact tracing program to prevent a future spike in coronavirus infections.
Read more »
“Really Want to Flood NY and NJ”: Internal Documents Reveal Team Trump’s Chloroquine Master PlanForget testing, ventilators, and PPE. Donald Trump’s big plan to beat COVID-19 involved distributing millions of doses of an unproven drug. Behind the scenes, senior administration officials pushed hard to bend the rules and back up his boasts.
Read more »
N.Y.'s Met Museum Projects $150 Million Shortfall, Lays Off 81 EmployeesOne of New York City's biggest tourist attractions and the U.S.' largest art museum says that it has revised its budget shortfall projection — some $50 million greater than just a month ago.
Read more »