The top official for the Pima Council on Aging was appointed to an Arizona governorβs task force to develop standards on when visitation within long-term-care facilities can safely resume.
W. Mark Clark, the councilβs president and chief executive officer, will represent the stateβs eight Area Agencies on Aging, which are public or nonprofit agencies that advocate for older adults.
Clark said long-term-care facilities βare particularly vulnerable to serious and rapidly growing infection and, at the same time, we recognize the need for people to see their loved ones.β
βThis has been a difficult time for residents, staff and families alike. I am excited to work with my colleagues from across the state to find safe and practical solutions for addressing social isolation and loneliness in these facilities,β said Clark.
Meanwhile, last month the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, also known as CMS, announced that it βwill begin requiring, rather than recommending, that all nursing homes in states with a 5% positivity rate or greater test all nursing home staff each weekβ for the coronavirus. According to CMS data, Arizona has a 22.7% positivity rate, and the state has 146 nursing homes.
CMS data also shows that 14% of nursing homes in Arizona have less than a weekβs supply of N95 masks, and 8% have less than a weekβs supply of surgical masks. Figures also show that 11% of nursing homes have less than a weekβs supply of gowns. The data is from required federal reporting by nursing homes.
Gov. Doug Ducey announced last month that he was establishing the Task Force on Long-Term Care to develop recommendations and standards on how and when it would be safe for visits to resume to long-term-care facilities. The task force would also look at steps facilities can take to help residents and their loved ones maintain contact.
Ducey said the βtask force will bring together public health officials, medical experts, senior advocates, private-sector leaders, legislators and family members to help us chart the path forward and develop sound policy as it relates to long-term-care facilities.β
Ducey has said more than $15.6 million in federal money has been allocated in Arizona to help seniors with groceries; the distribution of meals to the homebound and medically fragile; transportation to medical appointments; and for masks and personal protection equipment in long-term-care facilities to contain and mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
For months, long-term-care facilities, including skilled-nursing and assisted-living facilities, have strictly limited visitation to help prevent the spread of the virus among elderly and vulnerable residents.
In addition to recommendations about how and when in-person visitation can safely resume at long-term-care and assisted-living facilities, the task force will make recommendations on how best to keep families informed about their loved ones.
Owners and operators of large facilities and residential assisted-living homes have kept residents in contact with family through the Internet using FaceTime, Zoom and other applications to see and communicate with each other. Families have also visited loved ones through apartment windows, patios or from parking lots at the facilities, remaining safe distances from their loved ones who are indoors or standing on apartment balconies.
In interviews with the Arizona Daily Star, owners and managers of facilities have also reported difficulty maintaining an adequate stock of certain foods and supplies, including personal protective equipment and disinfectants during the pandemic.
The Pima Council on Aging serves as the local long-term-care ombudsman for Pima County, representing the federally protected rights of people in long-term-care facilities.
Last fiscal year, PCOA resolved 900 complaints in the countyβs long-term-care and assisted-living facilities. The ombudsman staff and volunteers have been available for telephonic and video consultation and mediation during the pandemic.
Residents of long-term-care facilities can reach the ombudsman by calling the PCOA help line at 790-7262 or by emailing LTCO@pcoa.org
