Coronavirus cases are increasing so rapidly that one New York nursing home CEO is advising families to take their loved ones home if possible.
Since suffering a traumatic brain injury five years ago, Eliot Loshak, 87, has been unable to get out of bed on his own. His eyesight is heavily damaged, and he needs help from the staff at his Manhattan nursing home just to call his only daughter, Pam.
More than 200 of ArchCare's 1,700 nursing home residents are infected with the coronavirus, and more than 20 have died, LaRue said. At least 10 staff members are also infected, with one in the hospital on a ventilator. Pam Loshak, 42, a publicist who lives in Harlem, is painfully aware of the risks her father faces if he stays at his nursing home, but she doesn't know where else he could go. Eliot Loshak needs a motorized lift and two people just to move him to a chair, and he frequently suffers from health problems that require expert attention.
But nursing homes have been unable to get enough protective gear and tests, in part because overwhelmed hospitals are getting the supplies first, industry executives and groups say. "We're in a situation where it is impossible for us to stop the spread of the virus," LaRue said."They say this is our highest-risk population — the one we have to protect the most — and they're not giving us what we need to do that."
Last week, ArchCare executives made an urgent plea to New York City for 28,000 gowns and 28,000 face shields to protect their nurses, aides and other employees. Last week, New York state officials and a local hospital association helped ArchCare track down 4,000 gowns and 4,000 face shields, but that doesn't come close to meeting the need, LaRue said.
But the deal fell through at the last minute after ArchCare discovered that a bank account set up to receive the funds was"opened with fraudulent documentation," according to a company email."Everyone we serve has the right to the same resources, and their life is just as valuable as anybody else's," LaRue said.
The problem is widespread, according to the American Health Care Association:"We have heard from many providers about residents and staff getting declined when trying to be tested. This is extremely worrisome."
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