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Tribal girls complete nursing course

Chelsey W. Vogt
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HYDERABAD  

Students from the 2019-20 classes of the NMDC BalikaShiksha Yojana received their B.Sc and GNM (nurses) certificates in Hyderabad today. The total number of participants from the 2 classes were honored on their graduation ceremonies held on the premises of Secunderabad which was which was attended by top NMDC officials.

It is the NMDC has been running its B. Shiksha Yojana program since 2011 to 2012, to provide female tribal women in the Division of Chhattisgarh to enroll in a nursing school within the ApolloInstitute of Nursing. Through this program, every year, fourty students with low incomes from poor backgrounds have been given the opportunity to continue their nursing education for more than 10 years now.

The initiative has helped around four hundred tribal female students from socio-economically marginalized sections of the communities that are located within NMDC activities within Bastar, Chhattisgarh. When the course, the students are enrolled in a variety of hospital facilities, both private and public, across the nation.

The program did not just create roles models for the young women who reside in Bastar as well as aided the efforts of the government to improve health services in the challenging district within the BastarDivision.

The CSR efforts of NMDC’s in the education field and skill development have brought dreams real for students living in the most remote regions in the United States.

We wish the students a prosperous career ahead Deb, Shri Sumit, CMD, NMDC stated, “It’s just a matter of pride for the NMDC to play a role in the progress of female tribal students in being health experts in the nation. I am hoping that the girls will become the change agents within their communities, much like their parents.

Black care home residents, those under 65 more likely to have repeat hospital transfers

Chelsey W. Vogt
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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 public domain

Nursing homes transfer about 25% of their residents to the hospital at least once, at a cost to Medicare of $14.3 billion, according to a federal report from the Office of Inspector General.

But a new study from the University of Missouri found that the number of repeat transfers is much higher for black nursing home residents and those younger than 65.

In one of the few studies to analyze the demographics of nursing home residents who are repeatedly transferred to the hospital, Amy Vogelsmeier, an associate professor at the MU Sinclair School of Nursing, found that black nursing home residents nurses, those younger than 65, and those with “full code” status were significantly more likely to be transferred to hospital at least four or more times in a given year.

“Given that repeated hospitalization of nursing home residents can sometimes result in more harm than benefit, we wanted to look back to see if we could identify any patterns to potentially avoid hospital transfer,” Vogelsmeier said. “For example, if a resident becomes very ill and needs to be hospitalized, such as a blood infection due to a urinary tract infection, how can we better prevent the urinary tract infection in the first place? Are there opportunities to better equip nursing homes with the right equipment and trained staff to better manage these conditions without the need for relocation?”

Vogelsmeier and colleagues analyzed a subset of data from the Missouri Quality Initiative, an eight-year, $35 million program funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid that implemented Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) full-time at 16 Midwestern nursing homes with higher hospitalization rates. than the national average.

Due to the project’s implementation of APRNs, illnesses were detected early before there was a significant decline in patient condition, which reduced preventable hospitalizations. Yet, from 2017 to 2019, more than 1,400 residents were transferred to the hospital at least once a year, 113 residents were transferred at least four or more times a year, and 17 residents were transferred at least eight or more times. more during the period. three years.

“In addition to the financial burden and adverse health effects like hospital-acquired infections that can occur, transfers from a nursing home to hospital can be traumatic, stressful and frightening for the mental health of frail adults,” said said Vogelsmeier.

Vogelsmeier said young adults can be admitted to nursing homes after traumatic brain injuries or strokes, as well as with serious early-onset conditions, such as congestive heart failure or chronic lung disease. These conditions, combined with potential serious mental disorders, such as schizophrenia and other comorbidities, often require nursing home levels of care for the resident.

“End of life conversations can be difficult, especially with young adults and their families, and sometimes there can be confusion regarding the ‘do not resuscitate’ designation,” Vogelsmeier said. “It just means that no attempt at resuscitation will be made if you die, and does not mean denial of appropriate treatments. We want to focus on evidence-based treatments that are tailored to the resident given their multiple chronic illnesses; knowing that in almost all cases, nursing home residents will die even when cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is performed and suffer serious harm as a result of the intervention.”

Previous research has shown that black nursing home residents who are transferred to hospital tend to have more chronic conditions, poorer health outcomes and live in lower quality nursing homes, perhaps due to financial constraints.

“Other studies suggest that black residents and their families tend to be less likely to engage in conversations about goals of care and are more likely to seek aggressive treatment, but we don’t yet fully understand why.” said Vogelsmeier. “It could be distrust of the healthcare system, it could be providers assuming they don’t want to discuss these things, which could be rooted in structural racism, so these topics should be investigated. further to better ensure racial equity in health care.”

Vogelsmeier added that APRNs play a critical role in coaching and mentoring nursing home staff, but they were not always sought out or consulted in the decision-making process for study residents who have been transferred several times.

“Whether it’s working with nurses to develop skills or having conversations about difficult goals of care, early APRN involvement plays a key role in guiding appropriate care and reducing potential for avoidable transfers,” Vogelsmeier said. “We have learned from the COVID-19 pandemic just how vulnerable nursing homes are, and greater implementation of APRNs, Registered Nurses and Certified Social Workers in nursing homes can help remedy this. to these vulnerabilities in the future.”

The research has been published in BMC Health Services Research.

Advanced practice nurses reduce hospitalizations for nursing home residents

More information:
Amy Vogelsmeier et al, Repeat Hospital Transfers Among Long-Term Care Home Residents: A Mixed Methods Analysis of Age, Race, Code Status, and Clinical Complexity, BMC Health Services Research (2022). DOI: 10.1186/s12913-022-08036-9

Provided by the University of Missouri

Quote: Black Nursing Home Residents, Those Under 65 More Likely to Have Repeat Hospital Transfers (2022, July 1) Retrieved July 1, 2022 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/ 2022-07-black-nursing-home-residents-age.html

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Health care workers’ struggles continue in the United States

Chelsey W. Vogt
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Stanford nurses at a mass picket

Nurses and other healthcare workers across the country are rising in a growing wave of strikes and protests over understaffing, lack of essential supplies, grueling workloads and the erosion of their standard of living by the sharp rise in inflation.

Conditions for healthcare workers around the world have been dramatically worsened by the ruling class’s response to the pandemic. Many are leaving the profession, further aggravating the crisis. According to a March 24 report in Healthcare IT News, 90% of American nurses are considering leaving the profession.

Not only do nurses have to manage inhuman levels of stress on the job, but they also face criminal prosecution as they struggle to perform their duties safely under impossible conditions. The case of RaDonda Vaught, who was arrested after a fatal medication error, met with a massive mobilization of nurses who were able to save her from having to serve a prison sentence. But nurses continue to be victimized, as can be seen in the case of Michelle Heughins and more than 100 nursing home workers in Ohio.

The growing struggles of healthcare workers are producing a direct collision with pro-corporate unions, which have done nothing to oppose these conditions and are instead working to suppress and block opposition. Nurses unions instead seek to promote inadequate legislation, such as national nurse-patient ratios, Bernie Sanders’ “Medicare for All” bill and workplace violence legislation will do nothing to address critical issues for health care workers across the country.

Nurses in the United States have taken an important step by forming a national steering committee to create grassroots committees in every hospital and health care facility to combat the victimization of medical workers. To find out more and form a grassroots committee in your hospital or workplace, please submit your information here and a member of the steering committee will contact you.

Below is a selection of the main developments in the United States.

Portland, OR

The Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) announced Thursday afternoon a new tentative agreement for 1,600 nurses at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center. While the union has been saying loud and clear that this is a “NURSE VICTORY”, the reality is that this is a victory for the ONA, which now has the chance to avoid a strike, scheduled for July 11.

As of this writing, the actual contract has yet to be sent to base members. On social media, ONA vice-president Jessica Lobell confirmed that the contract signing bonus had been removed in the final version of the tentative agreement.

Lobell also signaled that there would be no other major gains for nurses, while simultaneously trying to lessen the need for a strike, saying, “I can’t stress enough that we won’t get not everything we want in this round, whether we strike or not. .”

Northern California

At Seton Medical Center in Daly City, 300 nurses went on a two-day strike on June 22-23. The Seton nurses have been in contract negotiations since December 2021, and the nurses told WSWS reporters they were working without basic supplies, such as fresh produce. sheets, bath wipes and diapers. Nurses also said they are often forced to work near broken equipment, such as elevators and CT scanners.

Staffing is inadequate, with nurses reporting that they are outside of legally mandated state ratios on a daily basis and are additionally asked to perform the duties of other workers such as transporters and janitors to cover shortages. These intolerable conditions have led about 80 nurses to leave the hospital over the past two years.

June 18 also marked two months since a one-day strike by about 8,000 nurses at 15 Sutter Health facilities in the region. The nurses were then locked out for a further five days following the strike by hospital administrators and have now been working without a contract for a full year. The California Nurses Association (CNA) was forced to call a strike after a nearly unanimous vote to authorize a strike in March. The hospital’s contract proposal included a pitiful 2% annual salary increase and failed to address nurses’ concerns about insufficient staffing and personal protective equipment (PPE).

Newark, New Jersey

More than 300 nurses, respiratory therapists, X-ray technicians and other workers have returned to work at Saint Michael’s Medical Center in Newark, New Jersey, after a nearly four-and-a-half-week strike. The Jersey Nurses Economic Security Organization (JNESO) used totally undemocratic means to end the strike and impose an austerity contract on the workers.

Under the agreement, workers will receive annual increases of just 3%, less than half the current rate of inflation. Another cruel aspect of the contract is that these workers were saddled with a health insurance plan with a high copayment and a $5,700 deductible.

From the start, JNESO focused its efforts on isolating the strike by conducting closed-door negotiations with management under the auspices of a federal mediator. The union has never paid a dime in strike pay, never called on workers from other Prime Healthcare-owned hospitals or even workers from other hospitals in Newark to support Saint Michael’s workers.

Twin Towns, Minnesota

A month has passed since the expiry of the contracts for 12,500 nurses in the Minneapolis-St. Metropolitan area of ​​Paul. The Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) has called only an information picket and remains silent on the status of contract negotiations.

Additionally, the contracts of some 2,500 nurses at Essentia and St. Luke’s Hospitals expired on June 30. Nurses at two other smaller regional hospitals in Moose Lake and Hastings also have contracts that recently expired, bringing the total number of nurses working without contracts in the Twin Cities area to 15,000. not even called a strike vote yet, calling instead for limited “information pickets” to let workers vent.

The MP is also working to keep the opposition led safely behind the Democratic Party. The “Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act,” which has stalled in the state legislature, does not even address staffing ratios, but only establishes state-controlled “staffing committees” , who will do nothing to address the conditions nurses face.

San Diego, California

At Palomar Health in San Diego, 3,000 nurses and healthcare workers – who had voted 96% to strike – had their strike called off at the last minute by CNA and the Caregivers and Healthcare Employees Union (CHEU). They announced a sold-out tentative deal and rushed a vote, leaving workers little to no time to fully review the contract.

The union boasts of ‘strong’ health and safety ‘language’, the establishment of ‘committees’ where ‘RNs and caregivers meet with management to address patient concerns’. Creating these committees will do nothing to address the problem of insufficient staff-to-patient ratios, which allows burnout rates to increase and put patients at risk. The contract also provided for a paltry 10.25% “increase” in the minimum wage over the life of the contract, which works out to around 3.41% a year, well below skyrocketing rates of inflation.

Los Angeles, California

After a planned strike was called off at the last minute at Long Beach Medical Center/Miller’s Children’s & Women’s Hospital last Wednesday, the ANC was successful in pushing through a concession contract. As is common practice for the union, workers were unable to review the full text of the contract before the day of the vote.

Although the union has praised the contract for staff increases, there is nothing but the promise of a ‘professional practice committee’, an advisory body of nurses linked to the union which will hold meetings on the issue of staff shortages.

On June 23, 1,000 Los Angeles Kaiser nurses also began a one-day strike. Kaiser LA nurses have been working without a contract since September last year and report staff are so disastrous they are unable to treat patients safely and rarely take regular lunch breaks

Ann Arbor, MI

In Ann Arbor, Michigan, the contract for Michigan Medicine’s 6,200 nurses expired on June 30. Management at the University of Michigan-affiliated hospital is determined to impose a concession contract with wage increases that don’t keep up with inflation, relentless mandatory overtime. and an oppressive custody system.

After months of negotiations, the Michigan Nurses Association (MNA) and the University of Michigan Professional Nurse Council (UMPNC) did nothing to mobilize nurses’ strength, instead isolating nurses from other workers in the same hospital system as well as from nurses from other hospitals. across the state who suffer under the same conditions.

Nurses’ unions have tried to steer nurses’ opposition into dead-end appeals to millionaires and billionaires on the university’s board of trustees. Refusing to mobilize the force of the nurses, the UMPNC did not call for a vote to authorize the strike, warning its members that the management of the hospital will not shrink from its demands for concessions. Instead, they held an information picket on July 16, more than two weeks after their contract expired.

MDS coordinator strain hits nursing facilities where it hurts the most

Chelsey W. Vogt
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Credit: The Good Brigade/Getty Images Plus

Labor shortages are costing providers dearly, but new data reveals that labor issues are also hampering their ability to collect payment for services they have already provided.

Challenges including reimbursement staff turnover, more time spent in the field by nurses in reimbursement positions and new hires with less experience are “negatively impacting earning potential,” according to a survey released Tuesday.

Market Report: SNF’s Clinical Reimbursement Status found that 90% of skilled nursing providers surveyed had issues with MDS coordinators and other billing staff that affected their ability to collect. Some 57% had a turnover in their clinical reimbursement team in the last six months.

“Resource constraints have a ripple effect that impacts reimbursement beyond the census,” said Ryan Edgerly, CEO of MedaSync, a software provider that co-sponsored the survey with rehabilitation company HealthPRO. Legacy. “We hear these scenarios all the time. A shortage of frontline caregivers forces MDS coordinators to work increasingly in the field, giving them less time and attention to properly fulfill their reimbursement responsibilities.

These demands, relentless during COVID and ongoing nursing shortages, are also driving more reimbursement professionals to leave the field, change employers, or permanently return to frontline nursing, adds Rosie Benbow, MDS consultant and owner of Leading Transitions Post Acute Care Consultation and Staffing.

She has seen the average salary for MDS coordinators rise from $60,000 to $65,000 per year, to $78,000 to $80,000 per year among the clients she serves in Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin. Yet this is not enough to prevent workers from leaving and taking with them valuable knowledge and experience.

Finding a replacement or committing to training someone new to the role isn’t any easier than retaining coordinators, Benbow said. McKnight Long Term Care News Tuesday.

“The absolute biggest challenge is the availability of a qualified nurse,” she said, noting that a client had been using her as acting coordinator for more than a year while looking for an experienced replacement. “People feel like they need this perfectly trained person so they don’t lose the refund, but you’re having a hard time getting it.”

Managed care adds to the challenge

The job has gotten harder in recent years in more ways than COVID and smaller teams. The rise of managed care, plan tiers, shift to patient-based payment model, and state variations in client calculations add to the complexity of the job.

More than half of market report respondents cited an increase in managed care penetration and Medicaid rates as their primary concern. When asked to rate their level of concern about their ability to prevent missed refunds “in a multi-payer universe”, 65% ranked as moderately or very concerned.

Half said an increase in managed care penetration was their top concern, followed by Medicaid rates at 46%. The PDPM, however, ranked only 6th on the list, despite an investigation window that coincided with federal officials announcing that they planned to cut the PDPM in the next fiscal year.

Refusals of managed care and other payment factors, combined with inexperience or lack of training, can mean more opportunities to miss earned reimbursement.

Benbow estimated that average nursing homes could lose $150,000 to $200,000 per quarter due to missed diagnoses, miscalculations of PDPM, lower caseloads, or financial penalties related to reporting errors. quality.

“It’s definitely a struggle just to manage the care,” she said. “Another struggle of our time, aside from the staffing itself, is trying to follow all the angles, depending on what state you’re in.”

She encourages facilities to make a quick decision to fill a vacant MDS coordinator position – even if it means removing a savvy nurse from the floor. But then the facility must train that nurse side-by-side for weeks or even months with internal audits and external reviews to ensure that the dollars owed are actually collected.

Providing support through technology and counselling, she said, is likely to pay off in the long run.

“Some people don’t want to invest so much in their own financial future,” Benbow said. “Others absolutely do, and they see the value of weekly or monthly reviews to help seize opportunities.”

🌱 Roscoe Blvd Nursing Home Evacuation + Baseball Brawl Fallout

Chelsey W. Vogt
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Hello everyone; today is national cuddle party day, which was put on the calendar by the Hugs for Health Foundation. It’s me, Sylvia, your Los Angeles Daily host — here to tell you everything you need to know about what’s happening locally.

No one was hurt when the LAFD arrived at a laundry room fire. Also there are suspensions that circulate angels and sailors. Finally, the first defendant in the case of bribes to a member of the city council was found guilty.

First, today’s weather forecast:

Sunny most of the time. High: 88 Low: 63.

⭐️ Three of the Cheapest Gas Stations in Los Angeles ⭐️

  • Arco at 2829 N Broadway$5.97
  • Mobile to 1502, boul. Robertson S.$5.97
  • Berri brothers at 3860 E 3rd Street.$5.97

💧 Survey on the water crisis! 💧
Residents are limited to watering their landscapes two days a week, before 9 a.m. or after 4 p.m. What else should the City do to address the water crisis? Please let me know your thoughts! So far, 42.9% want to impose drought-resistant landscaping, 28.6% want to recycle wastewater for irrigation, and another 28.6% want to build a desalination plant on the coast.

Here are the top stories in LA today:

  1. Early Tuesday morning, the LAFD evacuated approximately 20 of the 90 residents of the retirement home at 22125 W. Roscoe Boulevard. There was a fire in the laundry room which caused “thick black smoke”. Damage to the facility was minor, the fire was extinguished quickly, and evacuated residents returned to their rooms. (NBC)
  2. Angel vs Sailor Brawl Update: Yesterday we talked about the fight that took place during Sunday’s game. Monday evening, Major League Baseball has issued suspensions. “Los Angeles Angels interim manager Phil Nevin was suspended for 10 games and Seattle Mariners outfielder Jesse Winker received a seven-game ban.” Ten additional players received suspensions ranging from two to five games. (ESPN)
  3. City Hall Corruption Scandal Update: Earlier we talked about the bribes allegedly received by former Los Angeles City Councilman José Huizar to “grease the wheels for the approval of a downtown condominium project.” The first accused in the trial, a real estate developer, was tried and was sentenced on Monday of “bribery, honest service fraud and obstruction”. He will be sentenced on September 19 for paying a “$500,000 bribe”. (Spectrum News 1)
  4. If you take your dog to a local dog park, look for ice cream puppies. We learned on Tuesday that this vegan ice cream for dogs is the brainchild of a Los Angeles entrepreneur. You can find it at “local dog parks and several stores in the Los Angeles area.” (Spectrum News 1)
  5. Mark your calendars! Tickets for “Beyond King Tut: The Immersive Experiencewent on sale on Tuesday, with the exhibit’s opening date brought forward to September 16. “The exhibition will run until January and will mark the 100th anniversary of the discovery of Tutankhamun’s burial chamber.” So, head to Magic Box LA to immerse yourself in a reproduction of the burial chamber. (OC registration/paywall)

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Today in Los Angeles:

  • Surprising Treasure hunt Adventure / Los Angeles Mini Quest begins at the Los Angeles Public Library (8:00 a.m.)
  • Online Property Auctions Only collections of Dino/Martha DeLaurentiis and Mitzi Gaynor (10 a.m.)
  • Virtual story time for toddlers from Sherman Oaks Branch Library (11:00 a.m.)
  • Projector unplugged with the Music Forward Foundation on Instagram Live (2:00 p.m.)
  • LAFC vs FC Dallas at Banc of California Stadium (7:30 p.m.)

From my notebook:

  • THE Schools unveiled his Strategic Plan 2022-26! Read and download the Plan. (Los Angeles Unified via Instagram)
  • It’s HOT in LA County! 🔥🌞 Now that summer is in full swing, consider stopping at one of the paddling pools to cool off with the family! Fun designs and cool water to beat the heat. (Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation via Facebook)
  • Our Baldwin Hills Estates neighbor has a dog looking for a forever home or foster family (with all supplies covered); he is about 6 years old, loves people and children. Selective dog, so best to be the only dog. Super soft and cold behavior. Likes to cuddle, is clean. (next door)
  • A East SoRo neighbor wants to know if it is better get devices from an appliance store, or is Home Depot or Lowes the same? Suggestions or recommendations? (next door)
  • A neighbor of West LA-Gardens District have a question about the Venice promenade. What is the state of it these days? They have friends from overseas, and it’s on their list of places to go, but they don’t want to bring them unless it’s decent enough. (next door)

More from our sponsors – please support the local news!

Featured companies:

Events:

  • Auction of goods from the collections of Dino/Martha DeLaurentiis and Mitzi Gaynor (June 29)
  • LA’s Sweetest Donut Party for Kids Who Love to Draw (July 2)
  • Estate Planning for Your Loved Ones – Webinar (July 2)
  • [Free Masterclass] Increase Your Website Sales and Leads Using SEO (July 16)
  • 7th Wine Festival Urban Garage Exhibition (July 23)
  • Add your event

You are now aware and ready to go out this Wednesday. I will see you soon!

— Sylvia Cochran

About Me: Sylvia Cochran has been working in sunny Southern California and writing freelance full-time since 2005. Loves dogs, cats, books, plays Best Fiends (don’t judge), embraces social justice and try to live Micah 6:8.

Do you have a news tip or a suggestion for an upcoming Los Angeles Daily? Contact me at losangeles@patch.com

Sabra Health Care REIT, Inc. (NASDAQ: SBRA) Receives Consensus “Hold” Recommendation from Analysts

Chelsey W. Vogt
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0

Sabra Health Care REIT, Inc. (NASDAQ: SBRA – Get an assessment) received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the eleven rating agencies that currently cover the stock, Market assessments reports. Six investment analysts rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five gave the company a buy recommendation. The 12-month average target price among brokers who have issued ratings on the stock over the past year is $16.06.

Several equity analysts have commented on SBRA shares. Credit Suisse Group raised its price target on shares of Sabra Health Care REIT from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a Monday, April 4 report. Capital One Financial began covering shares of Sabra Health Care REIT in a Friday, June 3 report. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a price target of $15.50 on the stock. StockNews.com began covering shares of Sabra Health Care REIT in a Thursday, March 31 report. They issued a “holding” rating on the stock. Mizuho moved shares of Sabra Health Care REIT from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered its price target for the company from $16.00 to $15.00 in a Wednesday 25 report. may. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of Sabra Health Care REIT from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered its price target for the company from $16.00 to $14.00 in a report from the Monday April 18.

NASDAQ SBRA opened at $14.54 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.60, a quick ratio of 3.60 and a debt ratio of 0.70. The company’s fifty-day moving average price is $13.27 and its two-hundred-day moving average price is $13.49. Sabra Health Care REIT has a 1-year minimum of $11.44 and a 1-year maximum of $19.01. The company has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -29.67 and a beta of 1.42.

Sabra Health Care REIT (NASDAQ: SBRA – Get an assessment) last released its quarterly results on Wednesday, May 4. The real estate investment trust reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.18 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.01. Sabra Health Care REIT posted a negative net margin of 18.28% and a negative return on equity of 3.15%. In the same quarter last year, the company achieved EPS of $0.39. On average, research analysts expect Sabra Health Care REIT to post EPS of 1.48 for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 31. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 16 received a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 13. This represents a dividend of $1.20 on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.25%. Sabra Health Care REIT’s payout ratio is -244.89%.

A number of institutional investors have recently changed their positions in the company. The Alaska State Department of Revenue increased its stake in Sabra Health Care REIT by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. The Alaska State Department of Revenue now owns 149,160 shares of the real estate investment trust worth $2,019,000 after buying 897 additional shares last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Sabra Health Care REIT by 1.2% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 80,608 shares of the real estate investment trust worth $1,200,000 after purchasing an additional 919 shares last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its stake in Sabra Health Care REIT by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 34,248 shares of the real estate investment trust worth $464,000 after purchasing an additional 957 shares in the last quarter. The Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in Sabra Health Care REIT by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. The Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 74,991 shares of the REIT worth $1,015,000 after buying 1,092 more shares last quarter. Finally, TownSquare Capital LLC increased its holdings of Sabra Health Care REIT shares by 4.8% in the first quarter. TownSquare Capital LLC now owns 23,975 shares of the real estate investment trust worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 1,093 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors hold 91.61% of the company’s shares.

Sabra Health Care REIT Company Profile (Get an assessment)

As of March 31, 2022, Sabra’s investment portfolio included 416 properties held for investment. These include (i) 279 skilled nursing/transitional care facilities, (ii) 59 senior housing communities (senior residences – leased), (iii) 50 senior housing communities operated by third-party property managers pursuant to property management agreements (retirement homes – managed), (iv) 13 behavioral health facilities and (v) 15 specialty hospitals and other facilities), an asset held for sale, an investment in a lease-purchase, 16 investments in loans receivable (including (i) two mortgage loans, (ii) a construction loan and (iii) 13 other loans), seven investments in preferred shares and an investment in a unconsolidated joint venture.

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Analyst Recommendations for Sabra Health Care REIT (NASDAQ: SBRA)



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Nordea Investment Management AB buys 16,663 shares of Sabra Health Care REIT, Inc. (NASDAQ: SBRA)

Chelsey W. Vogt
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0

Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Sabra Health Care REIT, Inc. (NASDAQ: SBRA – Get a rating) by 3.1% in the 1st quarter, Participation channel reports. The company held 550,620 shares of the real estate investment trust after acquiring an additional 16,663 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Sabra Health Care REIT were worth $8,254,000 at the end of the last reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently changed their positions in the business. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Sabra Health Care REIT by 40.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 335,561 shares of the real estate investment trust valued at $4,543,000 after acquiring 96,846 additional shares last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its stake in Sabra Health Care REIT by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. New Jersey State Joint Pension Fund D now owns 298,512 shares of the real estate investment trust worth $4,042,000 after acquiring 27,980 additional shares last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Sabra Health Care REIT by 673.7% during the fourth quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 140,418 shares of the real estate investment trust worth $1,901,000 after acquiring an additional 122,270 shares last quarter. The New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Sabra Health Care REIT by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. The New York State Teachers’ Retirement System now owns 316,583 shares of the real estate investment trust valued at $4,287,000 after acquiring an additional 7,227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in Sabra Health Care REIT by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 95,632 shares of the real estate investment trust valued at $1,295,000 after acquiring 8,314 additional shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.61% of the company’s shares.

SBRA action opened at $14.67 on Friday. Sabra Health Care REIT, Inc. has a 12-month low of $11.44 and a 12-month high of $19.01. The company has a current ratio of 3.60, a quick ratio of 3.60 and a debt ratio of 0.70. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $13.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of -29.94 and a beta of 1.42.

Sabra Healthcare REIT (NASDAQ: SBRA – Get a rating) last released its quarterly results on Wednesday, May 4. The real estate investment trust reported EPS of $0.18 for the quarter, beating analyst consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.01. Sabra Health Care REIT posted a negative net margin of 18.28% and a negative return on equity of 3.15%. In the same quarter a year earlier, the company posted earnings per share of $0.39. Sell-side analysts expect Sabra Health Care REIT, Inc. to post EPS of 1.48 for the current year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 31. Investors of record on Monday, May 16 received a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 13. This represents a dividend of $1.20 on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.18%. Sabra Health Care REIT’s dividend payout ratio is currently -244.89%.

SBRA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays cut shares of Sabra Health Care REIT from an “overweight” rating to a “weighted” rating and reduced its target price for the company from $16.00 to $14.00 in a Monday 18 research note. april. Credit Suisse Group raised its price target on shares of Sabra Health Care REIT from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a Monday, April 4 research note. Capital One Financial began covering shares of Sabra Health Care REIT in a research note on Friday, June 3. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a price target of $15.50 for the company. StockNews.com began covering shares of Sabra Health Care REIT in a research note on Thursday, March 31. They issued a “holding” rating for the company. Finally, Mizuho moved shares of Sabra Health Care REIT from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered its price target for the stock from $16.00 to $15.00 in a note. research on Wednesday, May 25. Six equity research analysts gave the stock a hold rating and five gave the company a buy rating. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.06.

Profile of Sabra Healthcare REIT (Get a rating)

As of March 31, 2022, Sabra’s investment portfolio included 416 properties held for investment. These include (i) 279 skilled nursing/transitional care facilities, (ii) 59 senior housing communities (senior residences – leased), (iii) 50 senior housing communities operated by third-party property managers pursuant to property management agreements (retirement homes – managed), (iv) 13 behavioral health facilities and (v) 15 specialty hospitals and other facilities), an asset held for sale, an investment in a lease-purchase, 16 investments in loans receivable (including (i) two mortgage loans, (ii) a construction loan and (iii) 13 other loans), seven investments in preferred shares and an investment in a unconsolidated joint venture.

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Institutional ownership by quarter for Sabra Health Care REIT (NASDAQ:SBRA)



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Bethlehem gets involved in the nursing home union fight for better working conditions

Chelsey W. Vogt
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BETHLEHEM — After years of turmoil and complaints about poor working conditions at a Delmar nursing home and assisted living facility, city council will send a letter next week to owners of the private company urging them to meet union members about their concerns.

Employees of the Delmar Center for Rehabilitation & Nursing and the Albany Center Adult Home, located on Rockefeller Road, and representatives of 1199SEIU United Health Care Workers East spoke at a recent city council meeting about the dire conditions they say that workers faced even after new owners took over in 2020.

“In all my (25) years as a certified practical nurse, I have never seen a situation as serious as today,” said a care home employee during the meeting. “We just don’t have the staff, and when there aren’t enough staff, we can’t provide the care we’re supposed to provide.”

Employees who spoke at the meeting said that due to limited staff, some residents were unable to get showers, nail services or other treatments as they are supposed to receive. Workers said they had to take on responsibilities outside of their job descriptions and certifications to make sure residents get as much care as possible.

Employees also said they were paid well below market rate for their work. For example, the starting salary for CNAs at the center is $14.50 to $14.80 per hour, compared to starting salaries of $16.50 to $19 per hour at other facilities. similar from the region, according to the union.

“When we met with managers asking them to raise our wages to fair market wages, they laughed at us,” the certified practical nurse said at the meeting. “They said they might consider it if we give up our health benefits.”

Workers at the facilities faced years of turbulent conditions, especially until the properties’ former owners filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy relief in 2020. In 2019, workers lost their unemployment benefits. health because the previous owners did not make the contractually required payments for the health insurance fund.

But conditions did not improve after new owners took over the care home and assisted living facility in 2020, workers said.

Centers Health Care, a New York City for-profit chain, was named a receiver of the facilities by the state health department in 2020 as it sought ownership. But soon after, staff said he was being denied vacation and struggling to cope with the workload.

“The feeling is that nothing is better,” Tanya Grant, administrative organizer for 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, told The Times Union at the time. “They didn’t come and presented a better situation for the workers.”

Two years later, union representatives who spoke to city council last month echoed the same sentiments.

Representatives pushed back against the owner’s claims that there was a labor shortage, saying facilities would be able to hire and retain more staff if workers were paid fair wages and treated with respect . The average turnover rate at the center is 96%, according to union members.

To make up for the lack of staff, the owners hired agencies to bring in workers from out of state. However, union representatives said these hires were paid better than local staff, despite not being qualified for the job – and union members often end up doing their jobs for them, they said. .


“The staff is so spread out that we don’t have enough time with the residents, and they get anxious,” said Mindy Berman, regional communications manager for 1199SEIU Healthcare Workers East, on behalf of another staff member. “You can imagine what it’s like for someone who’s elderly and in a nursing home. Our residents are human beings.

There are currently 120 residents in the facilities, and about 35 to 40 union members working there.

City Supervisor David VanLuven confirmed that the city’s senior services manager echoed the same concerns union members shared about working conditions at the retirement home. The city council voted unanimously to send a letter to the owners urging them to meet with union representatives to reach a fair contract.

“We thought it was appropriate because when we spoke to our senior services department, they highlighted all the issues that union members shared with us,” he said. “If there is a way to help meet these challenges and in doing so help the residents and improve the conditions for the workers there, we have to do it.”

The Delmar Center for Rehabilitation & Nursing could not be reached for comment. A message left with the administrator of the establishment, Rafi Lehmann, was not immediately returned.

Tips for Navigating the Health Care System

Chelsey W. Vogt
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Veteran doctor and administrator offers advice on how to handle America’s bewildering medical-insurance complex

The US healthcare system is complicated, difficult to navigate, and can kill you if you’re not prepared, proactive, and knowledgeable. From finding good doctors to being able to afford medication, the hurdles can seem insurmountable.

So said David Wilcoxwho has spent nearly 30 years in a variety of hospital roles and recently authored a guide for patients, “How to Avoid Being a Victim of America’s Healthcare System.”

A recent survey of nurse staffing companies indicated that more than a third of nurses plan to leave their current jobs by the end of the year. | Credit: Getty

Wilcox, who holds a doctorate in nursing practice, has served as a staff nurse, critical care nurse, nurse administrator, hospital administrator, and has worked in healthcare technology. He believes his experience and inside knowledge can shed light on how patients can work for better outcomes when dealing with hospitals, insurance companies, drug manufacturers and medical staff.

I have interviewed Wilcox several times and edit these interviews to highlight information that may not be widely known and to help readers learn how to use this information to improve care and health outcomes.

Barbara Sadick: Recent studies have indicated that medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the United States, after heart problems and cancer. How can patients prepare before a medical procedure to reduce their risk?

David Wilcox: I have seen so many bad situations that could have been avoided if people had prepared for them by doing research. Always ask questions. Know exactly what a procedure entails, why it needs to be done, how quickly it needs to be done, and what recovery will entail. Remember that patients and doctors should be equal partners and that patients have the right to ask as many questions as they want or to refuse treatment.

“Patients have the right to ask as many questions as they want or to refuse treatment.”

Be sure to ask about doctors and hospital ratings. Good evidence-based sources are available to do this research (healthgrades.com for physician assessments and CMS.gov for hospital ratings). Don’t just “google” for information. There is a lot of misinformation on the internet. If you are lucky enough to know a nurse working at the hospital where you will be treated, ask which doctors are most popular. They’ve been watching and can tell you who consistently performs well and who should stay away.

A recent survey of nurse staffing companies indicated that more than a third of nurses plan to leave their current jobs by the end of the year. Additionally, the American Association of Critical Care Nurses says that about sixty-six percent of acute and critical care nurses plan to leave the profession altogether. In this overworked and understaffed profession where nurses are in short supply, patients may receive less careful hands-on care. The nurses have too many patients to treat at the same time. How can patients and families cope?

Patients who are able to do this need to ask a lot of questions. If they can’t, and even if they can, it’s wise to have a family member or friend who knows the patient’s situation to advocate. Patients and advocates should question anything and everything, including anything that looks or looks suspicious. Ask until you understand.

Medication errors occur in nearly five percent of patients. Before taking any medication, understand what it is and what it is for. This can be confusing because drugs have generic names and brand names. If the drug name begins with a capital letter, it is a brand name drug. If it starts with a lowercase letter, it’s generic.

Some of the medicines you are given in the hospital are the same as those you take at home. To reduce costs and if you have not been admitted to the emergency room, you have the right to bring your own medicines to the hospital, give them to the healthcare team and not have to pay fifteen dollars for a medicine against headaches.

Because nurses are overworked, you and your advocates should be friendly and polite, as this will get you better care. But if there is a problem, talk about it and ask questions. If you don’t get satisfactory answers, continue to insist or ask to speak to the nurse supervisor. If your nurse seems rushed and you can wait, ask her to come back when things have calmed down. It is a way to prevent medical errors. It’s not hard for an overworked nurse with too many patients to confuse one with another.

Every day, about one in 31 hospitalized patients has at least one infection acquired in a hospital or other healthcare facility, according to the Centers for Disease Control. What can patients and providers do to reduce this risk?

First, make sure everyone who enters the room washes their hands. This includes visitors, family members, doctors, nurses and other hospital staff. To prevent pressure sores, a patient should be turned or turned every two hours. Pillows should be placed between the legs to reduce pressure. The sooner a patient is safely discharged from the hospital, the less likely they are to be discharged with an infection.

You say Americans spent about $535 billion on prescription drugs in 2018. That’s twenty-five percent more than in 2010. Pharmaceutical companies have hiked the prices of their most prescribed drugs from forty to seventy-one percent between 2011 and 2015. here?

“A typical consumer in the United States spends more on prescriptions than consumers in any other country.”

Pharmaceutical companies say they need to keep raising drug prices to raise money for research and development of new drugs. But the government, not the drugmakers, funds a lot of research, either directly through research grants or indirectly through tax breaks. State-funded research is your tax money at work, but you’re still being billed over and over again. Since 1930, the National Institute of Health has invested nine hundred billion dollars in research. Despite this, a typical consumer in the United States spends more on prescriptions than consumers in any other country.

Being the largest health insurer and payer in the United States, Medicare, if able, could buy in bulk and reduce the cost of drugs. However, it is against the law to negotiate drug prices. If allowed, it would drastically reduce the profits of drug company lobbyists who pay politicians. In the 2016 election, pharmaceutical companies spent sixty-two million dollars funding and influencing candidates.

Another little known fact is that drug prices vary from pharmacy to pharmacy. This is because insurance companies are unregulated and pharmacy benefit managers set the prices you pay using discounts and coupons that benefit both pharmaceutical and insurance companies. To find the best prices, you can use the resource guide, Dr. David helpsand compare the price of your medications to Good reception to ensure you pay the lowest cost.

Congress enacted the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act in 1996 to prevent access to sensitive patient health information without the patient’s knowledge or consent. Since then, healthcare technology has grown tremendously, and it’s not hard for your information to fall into the wrong hands. What should patients know to prevent this from happening?

When your health information becomes publicly available, there can be serious consequences. It can be used by insurance companies to deny you coverage. Be aware that genetic testing kits like 23 and Me and Ancestry.com can test for genes that influence your risk of developing certain conditions.

These companies anonymize your data and sell or give it to researchers who can then identify you again. Insurers often seek information that allows them to deny coverage. If, for example, your genetic information shows a predisposition to a serious chronic disease, it could cause a health or life insurance company to refuse to insure you.

Before you decide to inquire about your genetic profile or request genetic testing, think seriously about why you want the information and what you are going to do with it when you get it.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reports that in 2021, American consumers owed more than eighty-eight billion dollars in medical debt. The figure is probably higher because not all debts are reported to consumer agencies. What should people do when they find themselves owing out-of-pocket expenses for health care?

Many Americans are living in crisis from a health emergency. If you find yourself in a position where you pay out of pocket for medical care, speak with a hospital finance office. You may be eligible for complete forgiveness of your debt or you may come to an arrangement to pay it off over time.

If you make a good faith agreement with the hospital and pay anything, regardless of the amount, on a regular schedule, your creditor cannot turn your bills over to a debt collector. But don’t miss a single payment. If a debt collector obtains this information, it will affect your credit rating.

Never take out a loan or use a credit card to pay off your debt, as this will cause you to take on more debt in interest charges. Negotiation is the key.

Recent analysis by the Commonwealth Fund shows that the United States ranks only seventeenth in the world in terms of efficiency, results and equity of health care, despite spending significantly more than others rich countries. Do you see that changing?

In our current fee-for-service system, the health care provider only makes money when a patient shows up sick, so there’s no incentive to keep you healthy. In a value-based model of care administered by an Accountable Care Organization (ACO), physicians receive a set amount each year for your care. If you become ill and end up in hospital, your doctor will have to pay additional costs. It’s an incentive for doctors to keep you healthy, and while some doctors are part of these ACOs, hopefully we’ll see healthcare continue to move in that direction.

Barbara Sadist is a freelance health writer whose articles have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Kaiser Health News, AARP, Cure and others. Read more

The Citadel nursing home in Salisbury, site of the state’s worst COVID-19 outbreak, has closed

Chelsey W. Vogt
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SALISBURY, NC (WBTV) – The Citadel of Salisbury has now closed.

The Julian Road facility in Salisbury was the site of the state’s worst COVID-19 outbreak and recently lost its agreement for Medicare to pay for services.

According to Medicare and Medicaid Service Centers (CMS), the nursing home failed to meet basic health and safety requirements for Medicare.

In a statement to WBTV on June 14, a CMS spokesperson said:

Access to safe, high-quality health care is a top priority and responsibility for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Federal law requires facilities to meet certain health and safety standards to be certified by CMS as a Medicare and Medicaid provider.

As of August 24, 2020, the Citadel of Salisbury has been registered with CMS’s Special Focus Facility (SFF) program since investigators identified instances of substandard quality of care and actual harm to residents. The SFF is a program for nursing homes that have a history of serious compliance and quality issues to drive improvements in the quality of care at the facility. Salisbury Citadel was previously on the SFF program from June 18, 2014 to February 4, 2015.

Salisbury Citadel remained largely non-compliant after multiple on-site health and safety investigations (February 19, 2021; September 2, 2021; and March 4, 2022) documented non-compliance with several federal requirements.

Despite multiple opportunities to remedy its non-compliance, The Citadel Salisbury has failed to demonstrate that it can ensure the health, safety and well-being of its residents. The facility experienced a cyclical pattern of immediate danger, substandard quality of care and real harm to residents.

CMS issued the Citadel Salisbury an involuntary termination letter on May 4, 2022, stating that the Medicare and Medicaid provider agreement would end on May 19, 2022, based on an investigation conducted on March 4, 2022, which found revealed substandard quality of care and real harm to residents.

CMS is committed to and prioritizes resident safety and quality of care. Involuntary termination is usually the last resort after all other attempts to remedy the breach have been exhausted. CMS will work with the facility to ensure residents are properly relocated for 30 days after termination, when payments will continue for residents admitted before April 5, 2022.

The institution has the right to appeal CMS’s decision. Additionally, The Citadel Salisbury may choose to reapply for Medicare/Medicaid certification, which will require correcting ongoing underlying quality issues and demonstrating continued compliance with federal participation requirements.

Although the facility will no longer receive payment for Medicare and Medicaid residents after the 30-day period ends, the facility may continue to serve patients who are privately paid or covered by other insurers. However, the State of North Carolina will determine whether the Provider remains licensed by the State to operate as a dual jurisdiction nursing facility in the State of North Carolina.

CMS has had discussions with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and local authorities about the availability of beds and services for residents affected by this situation to ensure that health care needs of the community can be satisfied.

Concerns have been raised about the quality of care at the care home for at least the past two years.

[Family members: Conditions have not improved at The Citadel]

Allegations of mistreatment and failure to provide medication on time were reported by WBTV in 2020.

Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention visited The Citadel Salisbury months later. The location was one of four in North Carolina where CDC “strike teams” have arrived following large outbreaks of COVID-19.

As of September 9, 2020, 168 cases and 21 deaths from the virus have been reported.

The following year, a class action lawsuit was filed. The lawsuit was filed by Wallace and Graham, PA on behalf of two of the retirement home’s residents and family members, citing “severe systematic understaffing at the Citadel retirement home.”

[Class action lawsuit filed against The Citadel in Salisbury, site of NC’s largest COVID-19 outbreak]

After learning that the nursing home‘s participation in Medicare had ended, Mona Lisa Wallace and Olivia B. Smith, attorneys at Wallace and Graham, released the following statement:

“Since the start of 2020, Wallace and Graham have had significant concerns about the quality of patient care at the Citadel Salisbury care home. As noted in documents filed in public court, our concerns regarding quality of care extend not only to this facility, but also to the 36 other North Carolina facilities under common ownership, affiliated with the Portopiccolo Group and operated by Accordius Health. . Our law firm previously filed a lawsuit seeking to enforce the North Carolina Nursing Home Residents Bill of Rights, including the right to adequate care and patient safety. Since the change in ownership of the Citadel Salisbury in February 2020, concerns from residents and families about patient care have only intensified. In 2021, our firm filed a class action lawsuit alleging that the company’s cost-cutting business model has resulted in chronic understaffing and diminished quality of care. After exhausting all other attempts to address the facility’s shortcomings, as a last resort, Medicare ultimately terminated the facility’s provider agreement. Our firm continues to represent the residents and families affected by this matter.

A state inspection in April 2022 was filed days before the termination was announced, but didn’t paint the nursing home in a better light.

According to the report, staff would not help a resident after being offered sex acts by another.

[Disturbing report on The Citadel raises questions about options for families]

The report also noted that an employee worked 22 hours straight. The reason? Weak staff – an issue previously mentioned in the 2021 trial.

A resident’s dressings lasted for weeks before being changed and medication errors were numerous, according to the report.

“Just imagine if it was your mum or your dad or someone close to you, in that situation you want them to get the best care possible, I find that pretty bad,” Salisbury’s Robert Lattimore told WBTV. in April.

To learn more about the termination process, click here.

Copyright 2022 WBTV. All rights reserved.

The owner of a nursing home whose residents suffered in Ida arrested

Chelsey W. Vogt
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NEW ORLEANS — The owner of seven Louisiana nursing homes who sent more than 800 of his elderly residents to an overcrowded and ill-equipped warehouse to ride out Hurricane Ida last year was arrested Wednesday on charges of fraud and cruelty stemming from the squalid conditions.

Bob Glynn Dean Jr., 68, had previously lost state licenses and federal funds for cramming his residents into a facility in the town of Independence, about 110 miles northwest of New Orleans. There, authorities said they found sick and elderly people lying on mattresses on the wet floor, some screaming for help, others lying in their own waste. Some had arrived without their medication, according to a doctor. Civil suits against Dean’s company said the ceiling was leaking, the toilets were overflowing in the stuffy warehouse, and there was too little food and water.

Dean was in custody in Tangipahoa Parish on Wednesday, facing charges of Medicaid fraud, cruelty to the infirm and obstruction of justice.

Dean’s attorney, John McClindon, said Dean was told earlier this week of the warrant for his arrest. A resident of Georgia, Dean flew to Louisiana and visited on Wednesday. McClindon said Dean should be released on $350,000 bond.

Attorney General Jeff Landry said the criminal charges stem from allegations that Dean billed Medicaid for dates his residents failed to receive proper care at the warehouse “and engaged in conduct intended to intimidate or hinder public health officials and law enforcement.”

McClindon said he couldn’t comment on all of the charges because he hadn’t read the full warrant yet. But he said in a brief interview: “I don’t think Bob Dean did anything that reached the level of a criminal.”

In the days following the August 29 Ida coup, the state reported the deaths of seven people who had been evacuated to the warehouse in the town of Independence. Five have been classified as storm-related fatalities.

Dean then lost the state licenses for his seven facilities. In May, the US Department of Health and Human Services announced that it was barring Dean from receiving federal funding, including Medicare and Medicaid. At the time, McLindon, told The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate that Dean was appealing state license revocations and would be reinstated for federal programs if the appeals were successful.

Ida blasted ashore last August as one of the most powerful storms to ever hit the United States, knocking out power throughout New Orleans, blowing roofs off buildings and reversing the flow of the Mississippi River as it rushed from the coast into a major industrial corridor. . Ida’s landfall with winds of 150 mph (240 km/h) also marked the first time in recorded history that a state had consecutive years of winds of 150 mph or more.

At the warehouse where Dean residents were taken, state officials said conditions deteriorated rapidly during the storm. The generators used to provide electricity sometimes broke down. Residents were close at a time when the state was calling for social distancing due to the coronavirus pandemic. Some went without food for hours.

Dean’s nursing homes were River Palms Nursing and Rehab and Maison Orleans Healthcare Center in New Orleans; South Lafourche Nursing and Rehab in Lafourche Parish; Park Place Healthcare Nursing Home, West Jefferson Health Care Center, and Maison DeVille Nursing home of Harvey, in Jefferson Parish; and the Maison DeVille retirement home in the parish of Terrebonne.

Global Home Healthcare Market Expected to Grow 8.4% to Nearly $300 Billion in 4 Years

Chelsey W. Vogt
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The rapid increase in the elderly population and the increase in chronic diseases are driving global growth.

The global home healthcare market is expected to reach $298.2 billion by 2026, from $198.9 billion in 2021, according to a new market research report by MarketsandMarkets™, which provides quantified B2B research.

This represents an increase of 8.4% over the forecast period.

Major factors driving the global growth of this market include rapid growth in the elderly population, increasing incidence of chronic diseases, increasing need for cost-effective healthcare benefits due to rising costs of healthcare and technological advances in home healthcare devices, the report says. .

In 2020, North America, consisting of the United States and Canada, dominated the global market, followed by Europe.

According to the report, North America’s large share in the global home healthcare market is attributed to the growing prevalence of chronic diseases, high healthcare expenditures, high disposable income, poor healthcare infrastructure superior health and the growing geriatric population.

In 2019, there were 703 million people aged 65 and over in the world and this number is expected to reach 1.5 billion by 2050. In addition, the number of people aged 80 and over is expected to triple from from 143 million in 2019 to 426 million by 2050. , according to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

“The growth of this segment of the population will drive demand for healthcare and significantly increase the burden on governments and healthcare systems, as the aging population is more prone to chronic diseases,” the report states.

“This will prove favorable to the home healthcare market. Home health care reduces unnecessary hospital admissions and readmissions as well as travel time and costs to meet with health care professionals,” the report states.

Based on the products, the home healthcare market is segmented into three areas:

  1. Therapeutic products
  2. Testing, screening and monitoring products
  3. Mobility care products.

In 2020, the therapeutic segment accounted for the largest share of the home care products market.

According to the report, the increased prevalence of chronic diseases, such as kidney failure, respiratory diseases, diabetes and cancer, has increased the demand for therapeutic home healthcare equipment.

On the basis of service, the home healthcare market is classified into seven areas:

  1. Skilled nursing services
  2. Rehabilitation therapy services
  3. Hospice and palliative care services
  4. Unskilled care services
  5. Respiratory therapy services
  6. Infusion therapy services
  7. Pregnancy care services

Skilled nursing services, which provide a comforting alternative to stays in a hospital, nursing home or assisted living facility, accounted for the largest market share in 2020, the report said.

Favorable insurance coverage for skilled nursing services is expected to support the growth of this market over the forecast period, according to the report.

Carol Davis is the Nursing Editor at HealthLeaders, an HCPro brand.

Meaning. Rubio, Warner Praise Senate Advancement of Loan Consolidation Measure

Chelsey W. Vogt
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The senses. Americans Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Mark Warner (D-VA) recently applauded the Senate’s passage of their Joint Consolidation Loan Separation Act of 2021.

© Shutterstock

The bill would provide relief to people who previously consolidated their student loan debt with their spouse. While Congress eliminated the joint consolidation loan program in 2006, it did not provide a method for borrowers to terminate existing loans in the event of domestic violence, economic abuse, or lack of government response. a former partner, Rubio and Warner said.

“Survivors of domestic violence should never have to pay their abuser’s debts,” Rubio said. “This bill would provide financial independence to survivors who previously consolidated their student loan debt with their partner. I am grateful that the Senate passed this important legislation, and I urge the House to do the same so that we can provide much-needed help to these people.

Warner said the Senate’s advancement of the legislation is a big step forward for survivors of domestic violence and financial abuse who have spent decades fighting for their financial freedom.

“By finally allowing individuals to break their joint consolidation loans, this bill will provide much-needed respite to vulnerable individuals who are unfairly held responsible for a former partner’s debt,” Warner said. “I urge my colleagues in the House to act urgently and send this bill to the President’s office as soon as possible.”

Shawn Whatley: When it comes to fixing health care, governance matters more than politics

Chelsey W. Vogt
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Few voters had direct experience with hallway medicine or Canada’s world-famous wait times before the pandemic. Lockdowns have changed everything. The health policy failure went from fear-filled headlines to a tangible crisis that everyone could feel.

A failure calls for a better policy or a new policy to fill the gaps. Planners and policy writers are racing to come up with solutions: surgical centers, reallocation of funds, redesigned models of care, and more.

A new policy, however, cannot fix the old policy, unless we know why the old one failed in the first place. Most policies fail in implementation, and not because of bad design. Moreover, we can only close policy gaps if we understand why they exist. Gaps form around constraints and incentives, not a lack of creativity. The political environment dictates viable policy options.

How a system works has more to do with how it is governed than with the political ideas at play. Failure to implement, constraints and incentives all fall within the larger framework of governance. Governance and policy overlap, but they are different.

To fix health care, we must start with governance: how do we make decisions? Who can make them? If we don’t, a new policy will produce the same results.

Politics to the rescue

Take the example of surgical centers. Surgeons and specialists unite to build a non-hospital and ambulatory surgical facility. Each center offers a specific basket of specialized care, for example ophthalmological, orthopedic or endoscopy services. Surgical centers can provide comfort, convenience, quality and efficiency that hospitals struggle to match.

Surgical centers exist all over the world. They are not new. In Canada, we have been trying for decades to take care out of hospitals. We want to save money and shorten waiting lists. Why aren’t Canadian cities littered with surgical centers?

Current incentives and constraints make surgical centers impractical and expensive. Currently, hospitals provide nursing care, equipment and use of the facility. Doctors use it all but don’t pay for it, making non-hospital facilities a hard sell. On top of that, billing rules, regulation of independent healthcare facilities, licensing of necessary laboratory and imaging services, and a host of other restrictions all weave together into an environment. policy intolerant of independent institutions (funded by the state).

We don’t need a surgical center policy. We need research on why surgical centers don’t exist in the first place and what to do about it.

Thomas Sowell, American economist and author, once said, “The most important decision about every decision is who makes the decision.

Sowell developed this in his book, Knowledge and Decisions: “The most fundamental question is not what decision to make but who should make it – by what processes and under what incentives and constraints, and with what feedback mechanisms to correct the decision if it turns out to be wrong.”

Before making a change, every hospital administrator should ask themselves, “Who should be in the room?” Dramatic new politics will fail even more dramatically if you ignore governance. Informal governance may matter even more. The decision makers are often not the ones on the organizational chart: colleagues influence by personality without title or function.

Governance eats politics for breakfast

Peter Drucker, the legendary management consultant, once said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast. We can say the same thing about health policy: governance eats politics for breakfast.

Dr. Dave Williams, former astronaut and NASA executive, served as CEO of Southlake Regional in Newmarket. He said, “We don’t know who runs the hospital.” He was making an observation, not a complaint. “Compared to what I’m used to, it’s difficult to get things done.”

Without clarity and fidelity to best practices, governance will drift. Sowell, again, summarizes this:

Even within democratic nations, the center of decision-making has moved away from the individual, the family and voluntary associations of all kinds, towards government. And in government, it has moved away from elected officials subject to voter feedback, and towards more isolated institutions of government, such as bureaucracies and the appointed judiciary.

Is this a problem in Canada? Brian Lee Crowley, CEO of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, thinks so. Governance drift leads to a central design – a temptation for all political parties.

In his book, Gardeners and Designers: Understanding the Great Fault Line in Canadian Politics, Crowley expands on how gardeners approach governance. A gardener prepares the ground, removes waste, provides support and tends to progress. Gardeners celebrate the surprise inherent in what grows and blooms. They are not managing growth for a specific policy outcome that they have designed in advance.

Designers dream of improving healthcare. Gardeners ask the most important question: how can we grow good ideas? A gardener approach to governance leaves a lot of essential work (gardening) to government. It empowers the people closest to the problem and leaves the design, experimentation and implementation to them.

We cannot try to “fix” health care with a new policy. Without good governance, the new policy will struggle to be implemented like all old policies. We must first do the first things. Governance eats politics for breakfast.

Volunteers beautify gazebos to help nursing home residents

Chelsey W. Vogt
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ONEIDA – OneGroup employees showed up with brushes in hand this week at the Oneida Health Extended Care and Rehabilitation Center (ECF), ready to get to work breathing new life into two gazebos.

The volunteer effort was originally planned for earlier this month as part of OneGroup’s Day of Caring project, but it was scrapped. With the sun on their side, more than 15 OneGroup employees traveled to ECF on Tuesday to apply a fresh coat of stain to two gazebos that looked a little less good for dishwashing.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accentuated how important it is to connect with loved ones face-to-face in a comfortable setting. Within walking distance of the ECF, the gazebos serve as outdoor visiting and social space for nursing home residents and patients.

Pandemic limitations prevented gazebos from being used for more than two years, officials said. At the same time, the maintenance of the works was abandoned.

Now, after a little refreshment, gazebos can finally be used as some restrictions have been lifted and warmer weather is coming.

Kate Trombley, Director of the Oneida Health Foundation, said, “Exciting projects like this have a long-lasting positive effect on ECF residents and rehabilitation patients.

“With stricter visiting policies and isolation due to their age and frailty, opportunities to spend time with others have been limited to nothing. Yet they are extremely important in meeting the psychosocial needs of people in rehabilitation or long-term care,” Trombley said.

“The realization of this project will offer residents an outdoor option to spend time with their loved ones,” added the director of the foundation.

Prior to the easing of restrictions, residents of the ECF used iPads for video or had “window visits” with an intercom to ensure that the elderly, frail and those at high risk of morbidity were less at risk. risk of contracting the virus, according to Oneida Health officials.

“[Oneida Health] is a wonderful organization, and anything we can do to provide help and support, we’re happy to do,” said Robin Lovitz, Vice President of OneGroup.

“Everyone is very excited to be here” to volunteer, she added.

Westmoreland health care providers and employees battle pandemic staffing shortages

Chelsey W. Vogt
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The local healthcare industry had its challenges before a pandemic swept the world two years ago.

As the summer of 2022 approaches, HR directors and department heads are finding it even harder to find the people who can deliver basic services.

This is especially difficult for small facilities such as the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, where it is increasingly difficult to entice enough people to work and to cover staff vacations. The Greensburg-based congregation offers a variety of education, health care, and social service programs.

“How do you explain to your residents that you are only going to shower once a week instead of twice?” said Kathy Carulli, director of health care services for the Sisters of Charity nursing department. “We’re not like McDonald’s or Burger King.”

The organization tried to emphasize retention by boosting staff morale, positive reinforcement and “little bonuses,” said Carulli of North Huntingdon.

“Recruitment has been difficult since covid. There was a shortage of nurses before that, but when covid hit people were leaving the nursing profession in general, and we just don’t know where everyone went.

According to Becky Bostick, assistant director of dietetics for the Sisters of Charity, employees are entitled to a week’s vacation.

“We don’t have staff to cover vacations,” Bostick said of Greensburg. “It gets a bit hectic on some days, but we managed it.”

Excela Health, Westmoreland County’s largest employer, is facing similar issues as jobs have outnumbered people, so those looking now have more choice than ever, according to Heidi Henckel, head of talent acquisition at Excela.

“You can go up and down (Route) 30, and everybody’s hiring,” Henckel said. “The competition has definitely widened for us because it seems like a lot of organizations are hiring young people.”

According to Laurie English, senior vice president and chief human resources officer, Excela is currently hiring about 90 to 100 people per month, but staffing has remained “very fluid.”

“Obviously, we’re no different from other employers…when it comes to coping with labor market pressures,” said English. “We may hire 50 people but have 40 furloughs in the same amount of time due to retirement, furloughs, outside job opportunities and other catalysts.”

No shows

Sister Mary McCauley, housekeeping and laundry manager at Sisters of Charity, said sometimes people say they will come and not show up for work.

Carulli said she believes the “vast” number of opportunities and types of jobs available to people affect their engagement, especially young people.

“Unfortunately that means for us…a lack of work ethic because they think, ‘Well, if I don’t like my job here, I can just quit here and go tomorrow,’” said Caruli.

In the past, Carulli said, parents pushed their kids more to stick to commitments, especially jobs.

“The work ethic just isn’t what it used to be,” Carulli said. “The world is their oyster right now – they can find jobs anywhere.”

A 2021 study by Mercer examining the evolution of healthcare labor markets over the next five to 10 years found that the rate of retirement of primary care physicians will increase over the next five years. .

“Currently, about 12 percent of family, pediatric, obstetrics, and gynecology physicians are 65 years of age or older and are considered ‘retirement eligible,’” the study says. “By 2026, this number will increase to 21%, and more than 32,000 doctors will reach retirement age. »

Other job gaps are created when registered nurses leave for agency work and internal employees move to vacant positions within Excel, English said.

“Every sector of the economy is feeling the negative effects of the current labor market dynamics,” said English. “As far as our pay scales are concerned, we strive to be competitive in the market.”

According to the Mercer study, by 2026, it is estimated that nearly 23,000 primary care physicians will leave the profession permanently, leaving a “vacuum of demand for primary care providers.”

The demand for nurses will also increase by at least 5% over the next five years, according to the study, and during this period “more than 900,000 nurses will leave the profession permanently”.

“In addition to retirements, employers will need to hire more than 1.1 million nurses by 2026,” the study said. “If current trends continue, 29 states will not be able to meet the demand for nursing talent.”

Pennsylvania is expected to experience the largest nursing shortages in the United States during this period, according to the study.

Katelyn Printz, Excela’s human resources director, said she believes all companies experience staff shortages and can cause competition in the hiring process.

“I would say that historically I think what drove the market was people’s pure interest (in) what they wanted to do from an employment perspective…and I think now the market has changed a bit as the price of jobs is driving the interest in certain markets now,” Printz said.

The change has encouraged companies to heed recent calls to increase starting salaries and provide more benefits to stay in the market for new hires, Printz said.

“Unfortunately, I think all of the local businesses in Westmoreland County, we kind of compete with each other price-wise,” Printz said. “It’s a struggle for everyone, and I think it’s going to continue to be a struggle.”

Megan Swift is editor of Tribune-Review. You can contact Megan at 724-850-2810, mswift@triblive.com or via Twitter .

Nursing home COVID cases quadruple as recall rates slow

Chelsey W. Vogt
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The need for boosters

U.S. long-term care facilities, including nursing homes, assisted living facilities and other senior care facilities, have been ravaged by the pandemic, claiming more than 200,000 COVID-19 deaths among residents and staff. Institutions account for about one-fifth of all COVID-19 deaths in the United States, with more than 170,000 of those deaths attributed specifically to nursing homes.

The CDC began recommending boosters for residents of nursing homes last September because studies have shown that vaccination becomes less effective over time, especially for people 65 and older.

A recent CDC study of vaccination data from the nation’s 15,000 nursing homes found that an extra or booster dose of a COVID vaccine provided 47% greater protection against infection when the omicron was the dominant strain. Given that residents are at high risk of illness and death from COVID-19, efforts to maximize booster coverage among them “are essential,” the study concluded.

The CDC recommended recalls for nursing home workers in December of last year, amid the omicron wave. Studies have shown that boosters provide significantly better protection against omicron than simple vaccinations in the initial series.

Second booster shots have since been authorized for all people over 50 and many immunocompromised people, after data from Israel showed increased protection from a fourth dose against COVID infection and serious illnesses. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, MD, said second boosters are “especially important” for people over 65 and those over 50 with chronic health conditions – both of which are strongly represented in the population. retirement homes.

Federal data on second booster shots in nursing homes is currently unavailable.

Vaccine hesitancy, confusion over booster eligibility and effectiveness, and pandemic fatigue are likely contributing to slow booster adoption, experts say. Additionally, while there was a federal program to quickly administer the first round of vaccinations to the nursing home population when they became available, the administration of boosters was left to individual facilities or health services. local or state health in some states.

Deerfield Valley event raises $9,000 for southwestern Vermont health care

Chelsey W. Vogt
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Vermont Business Magazine Richard Caplan of Deerfield Valley Real Estate met with Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) President and CEO Thomas A. Dee, FACHE, to showcase proceeds from a fundraising event held on Saturday, March 5, 2022 at the Hermitage Club in Wilmington, VERMONT. The event was sponsored by Caplan and his wife Laurie of Deerfield Valley Real Estate and by Richard Messina, Founder, President and CEO of The Benchmark Company, a New York-based investment bank, and his wife and Pam Brocius.

“Hermitage and Messina club members and my guests have been so generous with their support during this event,” Caplan said. “We are proud of fundraising. It was a huge success.”

The event raised over $18,000, which was split between the Deerfield Valley Rescue Team and the health system. Funds donated to the health system will be used to support the renovation and expansion of the emergency department at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center.

“We are so grateful to community-minded business owners like the Caplans and Messinas for bringing their friends and neighbors together to support local health services,” Dee said. “Giving and the genuine enthusiasm that drives it furthers our mission of exceptional care and comfort for the people we serve.”

About SVHCs:
Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) is a preeminent, comprehensive health care system that provides exceptional, convenient, and affordable care to communities in Bennington and Windham counties in Vermont, east of Rensselaer and Washington counties in New York and north of Berkshire County in Massachusetts. The SVHC includes the Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), the Southwestern Vermont Regional Cancer Center, the Centers for Living and Rehabilitation, and the SVHC Foundation. SVMC includes 25 primary and specialty care practices.

Southwest Vermont Health Care is one of the most popular small rural health systems in the country. He is the recipient of the American Hospital Association’s 2020 Rural Hospital Leadership Award. Additionally, SVMC was ranked fourth nationally for the value of care it provides by the Lown Institute Hospital Index in 2020 and has received five-time Magnet® recognition from the American Nurses Credentialing Center for l excellence in nursing. The healthcare system is fortunate to have the support of platinum-level corporate sponsor Mack, a leading provider of contract manufacturing services and plastic injection molded parts based in Arlington, VT.

BENNINGTON, VT—June 15, 2022—Southwestern Vermont Medical Center

Philadelphia nursing home to close by end of 2022

Chelsey W. Vogt
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After nearly a century of operation, the city of Philadelphia plans to close its only retirement home by the end of this year, citing fewer residents, continued losses and the cost of millions of upgrades needed to installation of the Fairmount section of the city, officials said Tuesday.

“While I am sad to see the Philadelphia nursing home close, the financial realities of long-term care and the impact of the pandemic mean it is simply not possible to continue operating such a large facility. with so many empty beds,” said Cheryl Bettigole, health commissioner for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health.

READ MORE: Pennsylvania nursing home buyers would face more scrutiny under state health proposal

The city’s decision will add to a list of 14 Pennsylvania nursing homes that have closed since the coronavirus pandemic devastated the industry killing scores of residents, leading to greater pressure to keep people away from facilities and increase costs for operators.

It also means that sick and vulnerable residents will have to find new accommodation. Openings at many nursing homes will make it easier to place residents in other facilities than in the past, officials said.

Some of the approximately 260 residents are expected to be sent home, with the help of home and community services. The city said no residents will be moved without a safe discharge or transfer plan. The city’s goal is to free all residents by October 28.

READ MORE: From 2014: Critics renew push to shut down Philadelphia nursing home

At the end of May, only 65% ​​of the Philadelphia Nursing Home’s 402 beds were occupied, compared to more than 90% in 2018. This projected loss at the nursing home for the year ending June 30 is $5.7 million, have said city officials. The nursing home employs 277 people, according to a spokesperson for a non-profit company, Fairmount Long Term Care, which has run the facility since 1994.

Medicaid, which pays relatively low rates, covers nearly all residents of the nursing home.

Among the investments needed for the nursing home are a $2.6 million boiler for heating and $4 million for a campus-wide generator, the city said. The state of Pennsylvania owns the facility, which was built in 1930, according to city records, and leases it from the city for $1 a year. The city has paid Fairmount to run it since 1994.

The city has budgeted $520,000 for Fairmount’s running costs in fiscal year 2022, said James Garrow, spokesman for the city’s health department, which oversees the retirement home. The city also provides a $3.2 million annual grant to the nursing home as part of its contract with Fairmount, he said.

It’s hard to get a clear view of the facility’s overall finances from the Medicaid cost reports that Fairmount files with the state, because the city keeps some of the revenue that the state provides to the house. retirement, according to a Fairmount spokesperson.

“We are saddened by the news of the Philadelphia retirement home closing, although we understand that given the declining census, the city’s decision was likely inevitable,” Fairmount said. “Our priority remains our residents to ensure they continue to receive the high quality care they receive from us and to ensure they are transferred to other facilities or community services.”

» READ MORE: After COVID-19, nursing homes need long-term care

The city said it hopes employees can easily find jobs at other health care facilities, given widespread labor shortages,

The Pennsylvania Department of Health received the city’s shutdown notice last week and is reviewing the plan.

The closure will add to a growing number of Pennsylvania nursing homes that have closed since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed thousands of Pennsylvania nursing home residents and made more and more harder for nursing home operators to make ends meet due to rising labor costs and other expenses.

Fourteen Pennsylvania nursing homes have closed since April 2020, including Fox Subacute in Warrington last month according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Other closed Philadelphia-area facilities are PowerBack Rehabilitation in Phoenixville and Wellington Court Nursing & Rehab in West Chester, the department said.

Accushield’s love meter tackles isolation in seniors’ residences and skilled nursing facilities

Chelsey W. Vogt
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ATLANTA, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — For the past nine years, Accushield has been an innovative leader in digital connection. Additionally, they have developed a healthcare visitor management system designed by executive directors to help senior living communities, nursing homes and hospitals detect who is in their building. For example, a case study done at Celebration Village in Acworth, Georgia, an AgeWell living community, used the Accushield Love Meter to measure each resident’s visitation data as it correlated with isolation and loneliness.

Isolation is one of the most pressing issues facing seniors today. According to AARP, more than a third of Americans over 45 report feeling lonely or isolated on a regular basis (Anderson & Thayer, 2018). What is even more surprising is that this number increases in the older population, with the most common predictors of loneliness being their social network, physical isolation, age, depression, urbanity, anxiety and overall health (Anderson & Thayer, 2018). Accushield aims to identify and address the need for preventative health care in seniors’ communities. With more and more seniors suffering from chronic loneliness, this new technology provides community managers with the tools to identify the problem at the source.

For Celebration Village in Acworth, Georgia, the Love Meter plays a vital role in the community’s Masterpiece Living program.

“The Accushield Love Meter is a powerful tool that combats isolation in Celebration Village, Acworth. It promotes social, intellectual and spiritual growth within our community, as part of the Masterpiece Living philosophy. The Love Meter feature prevents the isolation and loneliness of residents by having easy access to reports that illustrate who is receiving visitors and who is not.” — Keith Magnan, Vice President of Operations, AgeWell Living.

Accushield created Love Meter technology to help providers track social isolation using data and analytics. Designed to raise awareness of isolation levels at the facility level, the Love Meter provides facility managers with real-time insight into how members of their community are connected and where they might need more support. Tracking this data makes it easy to determine the quality of interactions between caregivers and residents of senior living facilities and to prioritize the reduction of loneliness as a key preventative health issue for seniors.

The Love Meter is a data point pulled from the community’s visitor history that allows you to see the least visited residents of the building.

“Isolation and depression go hand in hand,” says Charles Mann, co-founder and CSO of Accushield. “Thus, understanding who the less-visited residents are can improve the overall health of the community and prevent disgruntled residents from leaving.”

Benefits of using Accushield’s Love Meter technology include:

  • Identify less visited residents
  • Prevent isolation and loneliness
  • Automate Visitor History Reporting

To learn more, visit https://www.accushield.com/.

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About Accushield

Since 2013, Accushield has been the innovative leader in connecting and medical screening solutions for staff, visitors, residents and third-party caregivers. The Accushield solution was designed by executive directors to help senior living communities, nursing homes and hospitals know who is in their buildings, enabling the creation of a safer and healthier environment. Accushield’s tablet-based kiosk replaces manual paper logbooks with a streamlined login and medical screening process for all visitors, staff, third-party caregivers and residents entering and exiting the building. To learn more, visit: https://www.accushield.com

Anderson, G. Oscar and Colette E. Thayer. Loneliness and social ties: a national survey of adults aged 45 and over. Washington, DC: AARP Research, September 2018. https://doi.org/10.26419/res.00246.001

Media ContactSavannah Muir [email protected]

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Women in healthcare are struggling

Chelsey W. Vogt
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This post was co-authored by Jena Doom, Ph.D., and Greta Hoffman, BA

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased rates of anxiety and depression around the world. In the first nine months of the pandemic, rates of depression and anxiety among Americans were six times higher than they were in 2019 (Coley & Baum, 2021). From the start, healthcare workers (eg, doctors, nurses, community health workers) have been on the front lines of this pandemic, bearing physical and psychological burdens. Many studies have reported that healthcare workers are at higher risk for burnout, mental exhaustion, insomnia, anxiety, depression, and PTSD symptoms (e.g., Talevi et al., 2020 ).

Healthcare workers who work directly with COVID-19 patients not only have a greater risk of exposure to the virus, but are also more likely to experience psychological distress due to witnessing repeated deaths and patients with serious illnesses. They must comfort patients when their families are not allowed to visit them. Additionally, some healthcare workers have chosen to leave their homes to protect their families, removing them from their own support system. These negative experiences often impact men and women differently.

Female healthcare worker in distress

Source: Cedric Fauntleroy/Pexels

Women make up nearly 70% of the health care sector, and research shows that health care workers who are women are at greater risk of mental health issues during the COVID-19 pandemic than men (Wenham et al. al., 2021; López-Atanes et al., 2021). A study looking at the mental health of Italian healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic found that women had greater symptoms of depression and PTSD than men (Di Tella et al., 2020). A similar study in Spain found that female healthcare workers were at higher risk of psychological distress than their male counterparts (López-Atanes et al., 2021). In Wuhan, China, researchers found that female healthcare workers were more anxious than their male counterparts (Liu et al., 2021).

Specific challenges for female health workers

Many factors may contribute to the higher rates of mental health problems among female health care workers. Female healthcare workers have more difficulty accessing personal protective equipment (PPE), and the PPE available is tailored to the male body. This ill-fitting equipment may also increase the risk of exposure to COVID-19 among female healthcare workers (Hoernke et al., 2021).

Additionally, pregnant or breastfeeding healthcare workers are, in many cases, not receiving the additional PPE and resources they need in a hospital during a pandemic. For example, some pregnant healthcare workers have had to continue to see patients directly despite the increased risk of complications from COVID-19, and many nursing rooms have not been cleaned regularly or properly during the pandemic ( Wenham et al., 2021).

Psychiatric history is a risk factor for experiencing greater psychological distress due to the pandemic, which is concerning for women given high rates of basic mental health conditions. One of the reasons that a history of mental illness may be a risk factor is that healthcare workers may not receive adequate mental health support, even after experiencing mental health issues in the past. .

A study in Brazil highlighted how racial inequality contributed to greater psychological distress among female healthcare workers. In this study, black women reported having less access to PPE and training, as well as experiencing more workplace harassment compared to white women (Wenham et al., 2021). Additionally, racist and xenophobic violence against Asian Americans has increased during the pandemic, creating a greater threat to the safety of Asian American women who were healthcare workers (Gover, 2020). Women are also more likely to experience the economic impacts of COVID-19 (Wenham et al., 2020).

At the start of the pandemic, during stay-at-home orders, gender-based violence escalated (Dlamini, 2021). Calls to domestic violence hotlines increased by 27% in Brazil in 2020 (Bastos et al., 2020). These poor home environments can contribute to mental health issues among female health care workers.

The gender pay gap in health care can also threaten mental health. When women are paid less than their male counterparts, they are much more likely to suffer from depression or anxiety (Platt et al., 2016). Female healthcare workers are also more likely to experience negative side effects due to more irregular work schedules compared to their male counterparts, which can lead to higher levels of burnout and more mental stress. physical and professional.

Women are also underrepresented in leadership positions in national and global healthcare organizations, despite making up the majority of the healthcare industry. This lack of representation may lead leaders to ignore how the pandemic affects men and women differently in public health policy decision-making (Leung et al., 2020).

Potential policy and public health solutions

Policy makers and public health officials would benefit from viewing the COVID-19 pandemic through a gender lens to understand how the disease affects individuals differently. This gender lens could help reveal greater gender inequalities in order to identify the most effective policy and public health responses. With women making up the majority of the health care sector, it is important to focus research on their experiences in order to reduce the growing mental health problems among female health care workers. By first recognizing that women are more likely to experience psychological distress from the COVID-19 pandemic than men, additional mental health resources and other targeted interventions can be provided to these healthcare workers. .

There is no simple solution to address gender inequalities in health care. However, we can take some steps to improve the experience and mental health of female healthcare workers during the pandemic:

  1. Have regular training on gender sensitivity and biases focused on the health care environment.
  2. Provide sufficient mental health resources accessible to all health care workers, with specific resources for women.
  3. Provide resources for victims and survivors of domestic violence.
  4. Provide female-friendly PPE and provide additional support for pregnant and breastfeeding healthcare workers.
  5. Reduce the gender pay gap in health care by increasing pay transparency and implementing equitable scheduling practices.
  6. Increase women’s leadership in the healthcare and public health communities.

Selkirk College Acquires Trail Campus, Prep Nursing Course – Boundary Creek Times

Chelsey W. Vogt
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After renting the Kootenay Boundary Regional District’s Trail Campus for more than 25 years, Selkirk College acquired the downtown landmark for $1.

The deal to make the Helena Street building a permanent Selkirk College campus was released on Friday, with the province announcing a $1 million investment to upgrade technology and classrooms to increase the access to a growing range of course offerings.

“This donation, and the community spirit behind it, will ensure that Selkirk College remains a permanent local fixture as the new owners and trustees of the Greater Trail Community Center,” said Linda Worley, regional council chair, in Friday’s press release. “Together, we can attract more investment and build a stronger, well-educated workforce equipped for the future, while positively affecting the lives of students and visitors for many years to come.

“This is exactly what Trail and the region needs and wants.”

Buying the building also means the college will be able to make better use of the space between the Trail and Castlegar campuses, relieving pressure on the growing locality of Castlegar.

“The Town of Trail and the many other surrounding communities in Lower Columbia place great importance on local and accessible post-secondary education,” said Maggie Matear, incoming president of Selkirk College. “The number of students and the delivery of programs and services on the Trail campus are increasing,” she added. “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to continue to build on the success of the Trail campus and to work with the other long-time tenants to develop courses and programs that will enhance the educational landscape in the heart of this wonderful city. »

Matear was referring to the college adding other training opportunities to the Trail campus, such as the licensed practical nurse (LPN) program. New courses will complement existing programming that includes academic upgrading and development, continuing education and workforce development, digital manufacturing and design, healthcare assistance and others.

Additionally, the campus will also support student collaboration on advanced manufacturing and applied materials research at the Selkirk College Technology Access Center, located on Highway Drive in Glenmerry.

This new owner will have no impact on the day-to-day operations of the building’s tenants such as the VISAC Gallery. The college notes that tenants are very important to the community and very important to Selkirk College.

On behalf of the city, Trail Mayor Lisa Pasin congratulated Selkirk College on acquiring the Trail campus.

“We are thrilled to have a revitalized Learning Center at the Trail Center, including enhanced educational programming,” Pasin said. “Selkirk’s educational presence in the area will be strengthened and the city’s downtown will continue to be revitalized with more students and families coming to Trail. We thank Selkirk for their commitment to Trail’s future of post-secondary education and economic growth.

Greater Trail Community Arts Center.

History of the building

The building was constructed in 1923 as Trail Technical School and significantly remodeled and expanded in 1939 to become Trail Junior High School which closed in 1983. The structure sat vacant for three years because it did not meet not up to fire or other building code standards of the time and needed major renovations to be safe for public use.

The Regional District began a study in 1985 to determine the feasibility of renovating the facility, and the following year began a $3 million renovation project that resulted in the Greater Trail Community Center opening in 1988.

Since then, the Regional District has operated the center to serve the communities of Fruitvale, Montrose, Zone A, Trail, Warfield, Rossland and Zone B-Lower Columbia Old Glory. The building currently houses Selkirk College’s Trail Campus, VISAC Gallery, Trail Gymnastics Club, Regional Emergency Operations Center, Arts Council, and Bailey Theater.

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Medicaid weighs tying strings to nursing home payments to improve patient care

Chelsey W. Vogt
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The Biden administration plans to require the nation’s 15,500 nursing homes to spend most of their Medicaid payments on direct resident care and limit the amount used for operations, maintenance and capital improvements or diverted to profits.

If passed, it would be the first time the federal government has insisted that nursing homes spend the majority of Medicaid dollars on resident care.

The strategy, which has yet to be formally proposed, is among several measures officials are considering after the covid-19 pandemic hit vulnerable nursing home residents particularly hard. In the first 12 months of the pandemic, at least 34% of those killed by the virus lived in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, although residents of these facilities make up less than 1% of the American population.

Medicaid, the federal state health insurance program for low-income people, pays the bills for 62% of long-term care residents in nursing homes. In 2019, that totaled $50.8 billion. Medicare, which covers short-term nursing home visits for the elderly or disabled, spent $38.2 billion that year. (Officials did not include Medicare payments in their discussions of a direct care spending mandate.)

“The absolutely essential ingredient” for good care is enough staff, Dan Tsai, deputy administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and director of Medicaid, told KHN.

CMS has sought public comment on a possible direct care spending mandate in its proposed policy update and care home payment rates for next year. Tsai also spoke about it during a meeting with Illinois state officials, nursing home workers, residents and loved ones in Chicago in April.

Studies have found a strong link between staffing levels and care. CMS does not require a specific number of nurses and other staff, although some states do.

“We want to make sure the dollars get to the direct care staff to ensure high-quality care,” Tsai told KHN.

To receive a government paycheck, nursing homes must meet dozens of requirements aimed at ensuring high-quality care. They can be penalized in the event of an infraction. But federal investigations have found that inspectors can miss serious issues and that inspections don’t consistently meet CMS standards. One of the most common breaches was infection control.

In its request for public comment, CMS posed several questions, including: “Is there evidence that resources that could be spent on staffing are instead being used for expenditures that are not necessary for the quality patient care?

The federal interest follows laws enacted in three states – Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York – to tax care expenditures. Massachusetts requires nursing homes to spend at least 75% of their income on resident care. New Jersey nursing homes must spend at least 90% of Medicaid payments on resident care, and no more than 5% can go to profits. New York requires that at least 70% of nursing home revenues — including Medicaid, Medicare and private insurance payments — be used to care for residents and that at least 40% of money for care direct pay for staff “in contact with residents” . Profits are capped at 5%. The three states promise increased Medicaid payments to facilities that comply with the laws.

In April, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine endorsed the out-of-pocket spending strategy in a report on improving nursing care in homes.

“When you take public funds, those dollars should be put back into direct care,” said David Grabowski, a professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School and a member of the committee that wrote the report. “We expect the nursing home to make the best judgment about the right kind of labour, material and capital expenditure to really produce the highest level of quality, but that just doesn’t matter. not been the case. This recommendation is therefore really an opportunity to put safeguards in place.

National nursing home industry groups oppose the demands, which come at a difficult time as many facilities face staffing shortages. In New York, two trade associations and about half of the state’s homes have filed two lawsuits to block the state spending directive.

Staffing is already “the No. 1 expense” for nursing homes, said Stephen Hanse, president and CEO of the New York State Health Facilities Association, which represents 350 nursing homes and has led one of the suits. “We are a hands-on industry.”

The 239 nursing homes that joined the association’s lawsuit say that if New York’s law had been in effect in 2019, facilities would have been forced to provide residents with an additional $824 million in direct care or return this amount to the State.

Hanse objects to the state telling nursing home administrators how to do their job. “You can have an amazing diet program, for example, and this law would require you to lay off diet workers and hire front-line workers to meet staffing needs,” he said.

The groups filing the lawsuits argue that forcing landlords to spend more money on direct care leaves less money for maintaining their facilities and the quality of care will suffer. They also claim that Medicaid does not cover resident care costs. Resident advocates say facilities can hide their profits by overpaying related businesses they own, such as laundry or catering businesses.

Although a spending mandate is new for nursing homes in the three states, it has become routine for health insurers nationwide. Under the “medical loss rate” provision of the Affordable Care Act, health insurance companies must spend at least 80% of premiums on the medical care of beneficiaries. A maximum of 20% can be spent on administrative costs, executive salaries, advertising and profits. Companies that exceed the cap must reimburse the difference to the beneficiaries.

In addition to a direct care spending mandate, Tsai said CMS is interested in a slightly different approach underway in Illinois, which made changes to nursing home regulations this year. His Nursing Home Tariff Reform Act increases Medicaid funding and then requires each home to hire at least 70% of the staff that state analysis shows residents need. The state then uses payroll and other data to verify that the establishment has complied. Otherwise, the difference will be deducted from his next payment.

“There are states across the country that are trying a range of approaches to ensure that system dollars from nursing facility reimbursement rates are actually – in one way or another – affected. sufficient and high-quality staff,” Tsai said. “That’s our primary goal.”

KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism on health issues. Along with policy analysis and polls, KHN is one of the three main operating programs of the KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed non-profit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

Subscribe to KHN’s free morning briefing.

COVID cases rise again at LA County Skilled Nursing Facilities –

Chelsey W. Vogt
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0
Photo by Ömer Yıldız on Unsplash

With high transmission rates in Los Angeles County, positive cases and outbreaks are increasing in skilled nursing facilities, the public health department reported Friday, June 10.

For the week ending May 29, skilled nursing facilities reported 114 new cases among residents and 205 new cases among staff.

This represents a 443% and 439% increase in new cases, respectively, from a month ago, when there were 21 new cases among residents and 38 new cases among staff for the week ending on April 23.

Additionally, the number of outbreaks per week in skilled nursing facilities has risen sharply over the past week to 40 new outbreaks in the seven days ending June 7, bringing the early warning signal back to a high level.

Public Health works closely with skilled nursing facilities to respond to and mitigate outbreaks. As a reminder, an outbreak is declared in a nursing facility when there is a resident case. Skilled nursing facilities continue to maintain enhanced protective measures, including indoor masking and testing requirements for residents, staff and visitors; appropriately isolate and quarantine residents; and limiting communal meals and group activities that cannot take place outdoors.

High levels of vaccination and booster coverage among NFS help provide lifesaving protection. As of May 29, 91% of nursing home residents were fully vaccinated and 79% fully vaccinated and boosted with the first booster dose. Among eligible personnel, vaccination rates are also very high with 98% fully vaccinated and 89% fully vaccinated and boosted.

However, although the data is incomplete, it appears that far fewer SNF residents and staff received a second booster; data to date indicates that second booster doses have been given to only 22% of eligible residents and 7% of staff.

In order to ensure that eligible nursing home residents and staff quickly receive second booster doses, Public Health continues to verify that qualified LA County nursing facilities are able to offer second doses. through their relationship with a long-term care pharmacy or through Public Health mobile teams. Skilled nursing facilities that require a mobile vaccination team can inquire by completing the COVID-19 Vaccination Special Requests for Healthcare Facilities request form. Skilled nursing facilities with active outbreaks will be scheduled for a mobile team clinic.

“I send my deepest condolences and wishes for peace and comfort to the many families who have lost loved ones to COVID-19,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “This sharp increase in cases and outbreaks in NFS reflects the increase in transmission in the wider community. When we strongly recommend universal COVID precautions, one reason is that we all have a collective opportunity to protect the most vulnerable in our community, including nursing home residents. Although hard-working staff can and do take additional steps to prevent transmission in these facilities, if transmission rates are high in the surrounding community, it increases the likelihood of residents and staff being exposed to infected people. . When we mask and take other protective measures during times of increased COVID cases, we reduce the spread and thereby take steps to protect all of our residents, including the most vulnerable in our nursing homes.

On Friday, Public Health reported eight additional deaths and 6,202 new positive cases. Of the eight new deaths reported today, one person was between the ages of 18 and 29, one person was between the ages of 50 and 64, two people were between the ages of 65 and 79 and four people were aged 80 or over. . Of the eight newly reported deaths, six had underlying health conditions. To date, the total number of deaths in LA County is 32,201.

Public Health has reported a total of 3,025,694 positive cases of COVID-19 across all regions of LA County. The current positivity rate is 5.0%.

There are 616 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized. Test results are available for more than 12,072,695 people, including 22% of those who tested positive. (AJPress)

[Weekender] Metaverse technologies bring healthcare to the door

Chelsey W. Vogt
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0
[Weekender] Metaverse technologies bring healthcare to the door

Virtual reality, artificial intelligence enable better access to diagnostics and medical education

People play immersive games with virtual reality sensory headsets inside Lucy Bus. (Looxid Laboratories)

South Korea’s healthcare sector is breaking down physical barriers with the rise of the metaverse and its core technologies – virtual reality and artificial intelligence.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has limited most offline interactions over the past two years, metaverse technologies that ultimately envision a shared virtual space where people can interact with each other and perform realistic activities and tasks have been put forward.

Unlike the traditional healthcare industry that requires physical contact or human-to-human exchange, healthcare startups inspired by cutting-edge technologies are expanding diagnostic fields.

Local startup Looxid Labs has developed Lucy, a medical assessment and training system that uses AI and virtual reality technologies to detect early signs of cognitive disorders, such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Since October, the company has operated a mobile diagnostic center called Lucy Bus that can visit elderly people to test their cognitive abilities. By using a sensory VR headset to play immersive cognitive games, the headset can measure their working memory, attention level, and spatial perception by examining their behavioral and neurophysiological responses such as brain waves.

The VR sensory headset also offers a training mode that can help prevent cognitive impairment in the elderly.

Lucy Bus (Looxid Laboratories)

“Lucy is mainly used for people aged 50 or over. Lucy Bus provides tour services for senior citizens who reside in the countryside and have little access to public transportation,” said an official from Looxid Labs.

According to the official, Lucy headsets are in use at 46 locations in Seoul and Busan, most of which are local dementia centers and senior welfare centers. In January, Lucy received the Health and Wellness Innovation Award at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Metaverse technologies are also used for the training of medical personnel.

Newbase, a company specializing in the development of medical metaverse simulation platforms, has devised programs to provide more real-world training opportunities for those wishing to work in the medical field.

Using a VR sensory headset and a mobile app, the company offers simulations such as checking patients’ Glasgow Coma Scale – a clinical scale used to measure a patient’s level of consciousness. person – and learning about case triage, the process of determining which patients receive treatment and care services based on their clinical condition.

Screenshot of Newbase NurseBase virtual medical training platform (Newbase)

Newbase’s other programs give budding medical personnel the opportunity to practice giving injections, managing hygiene and learning how to put on and take off protective equipment correctly.

According to the company, simulation offers more real training opportunities as it provides instant feedback based on decisions made by players. Users don’t have to worry about real patient safety or privacy issues during the trials and the simulations also reduce the amount of single-use medical resources, he added.

The medical simulation platforms have been used at 405 institutions across the country, including Seoul Women’s College of Nursing and National Sunchon University, the company said. Newbase announced last week that it had secured 4 billion won ($3.18 million) in a Series A investment.

In addition to medical training, metaverse technologies can also be used to teach the general public about common, but crucial, medical procedures such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR.

Tetra Signum offers CPR training using artificial intelligence and virtual reality technologies with its device called Meta CPR 1.0, a digital kiosk connected to a CPR manikin and a head-mounted display that the user wears. According to the company, the program can increase the effectiveness of CPR lessons because it gives accurate assessment and data analysis of how CPR is performed.

A Tetra Signum official told the Korea Herald that the company was looking to break into overseas markets because it had conducted clinical trials with medical institutes in the UK and the US. The company is also developing a CPR platform for young children as well as a mass CPR training solution, according to the official.

Student firefighters practice CPR with mannequins using virtual reality technology at the National Fire Service Academy. (Tetra Signum)

“The current Meta CPR 1.0 is intended to perform CPR on adults. But other countries have shown interest in teaching young couples how to properly perform CPR for children. South Korean police and fire authorities asked for ways to train more trainees with our solution, as the current headset only allows one-to-one training,” he said.

The manager added that the company aims to provide a CPR solution that does not require a kiosk or head-mounted display so it can deliver the training wherever and whenever.

The metaverse technologies used to expand the possibilities of the healthcare sector are not limited to diagnostics and medical education, however, according to Choi Jae-yong, president of the Korea Metaverse Institute.

“Home training can be done through the metaverse. You could run on a treadmill at home and train with friends in a shared virtual space using VR devices. It would produce better exercise effects. The metaverse and healthcare industries can only benefit from each other,” Choi said.

The government announced in January that it would invest a total of 45 billion won to support 300 startups in the remote industry, including the metaverse sector. In particular, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said it would focus on companies with medical training and metaverse clinical platforms, while the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said that would support developers of non-contact medical devices and in vitro diagnostics. Medical equipement.

By Kan Hyeong-woo (hwkan@heraldcorp.com)

Bill to Reform ‘Adversarial and Punitive’ Nursing Facility and Staff Investigations Considered by Michigan Senate Committee – State of Reform

Chelsey W. Vogt
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0

Nursing home officials and lawmakers are advancing legislation to limit “adversarial and punitive” regulatory surveyor citations to limit the ongoing challenges faced by staff from these many regulatory measures, said Richie Farran, vice president of government services at the Health Care Association of Michigan.

The Senate Committee on Health and Human Services Policy understood testimony for House Bill 5609 On Thursday, which would require Michigan’s Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs to administer a certification process for nursing homes under federal law and implement a quality assurance review process for all investigations into care homes, including a review of citations.

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Farran said states must enforce federal regulatory rules outlined by CMS to ensure nursing facilities are safe and efficient. Areas covered by these regulations include patient rights, infection control protocols, and staff training requirements. Farran said this bill does not seek less oversight or a change to those rules, but rather changes the way state surveyors conduct their surveys.

Karli Zubek, legislative director representing Rep. Bronna Kahle (R-Adrian) — sponsor of the bill — said Michigan is “an outlier in the frequency, scope and severity of citations” among other states. However, Farran said the CMS shows the state’s quality of care for nursing facilities is equal to or better than what’s typical in other states.

She said that in 2020, Michigan had double the average citation count compared to the national average. These “unfair and inconsistent” regulatory practices lead to lower quality care and lower staff morale, already exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Investigators are expected to conduct unannounced investigations annually or when a complaint has been filed about a facility. However, Farran and Zubek said the problem lies in the inconsistency of how investigators interpret, view and act on federal regulations.

“Vendors experience uncoordinated and untimely visits for annual inquiries and complaints, leading to increased enforcement action,” Farran said. “Inconsistencies in determining scope and severity exist between investigative teams, making compliance dependent on each individual investigator’s interpretation.”

Zubek said the bill would improve the investigator process and ensure nursing facilities are assessed in a “more fair, accurate and timely” manner, without reducing the overall quality of patient care.

“Michigan’s regulatory process should be reviewed with consideration for adherence to state law guidelines and fairness with other states and our nation at a level of professionalism and collaboration to provide the absolute best care to our elderly,” Zubek said.

Sen. Ruth Johnson (R-Groveland Township) expressed concern about how seniors were treated in Michigan nursing homes and supported accountability for investigators and nursing homes.

“Health conditions are something you wouldn’t let a stray dog ​​live in,” Johnson said. “I am very concerned about the State of Michigan’s lack of professionalism and decency towards such vulnerable seniors…The cases I have seen and the lack of state regulation are the most deplorable thing and the horrifying thing I’ve seen. in a very, very long time. »

Farran said he hopes this new process will be more effective at getting rid of “bad apples” to reduce some of the poor health outcomes described by Johnson.

“To prevent or reduce these occurrences, you just need good staff,” Farran said. “Unfortunately the profession has been battered and bruised… When there is so much negative rhetoric around facilities and when it is all about negative outcomes, how do you attract the right people into the profession? Beyond regulatory issues, the number one issue is labor.

LARA is neutral on the bill, while LeadingAge Michigan and the Michigan County Medical Care Facility Council support the bill. The bill awaits a vote at the Senate Health and Human Services Policy Committee.

Medicaid weighs in on nursing home payment terms to improve patient care

Chelsey W. Vogt
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0

The Biden administration plans to require the nation’s 15,500 nursing homes to spend most of their Medicaid payments on direct resident care and limit the amount used for operations, maintenance and capital improvements or diverted to profits.

If passed, it would be the first time the federal government has insisted that nursing homes spend the majority of Medicaid dollars on resident care.

The strategy, which has yet to be officially proposed, is among several measures authorities are considering after the covid-19 pandemic hit vulnerable nursing home residents particularly hard. In the first 12 months of the pandemic, at least 34% of those killed by the virus lived in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, although residents of these facilities make up less than 1% of the American population.

Medicaid, the federal state health insurance program for low-income people, pays the bills for 62% of long-term care residents in nursing homes. In 2019, that totaled $50.8 billion. Medicare, which covers short-term nursing home visits for the elderly or disabled, spent $38.2 billion that year. (Officials did not include Medicare payments in their discussions of a direct care spending mandate.)

“The absolutely essential ingredient” for good care is enough staff, Dan Tsai, deputy administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and director of Medicaid, told KHN.

CMS has sought public comment on a possible direct care spending mandate in its proposed policy update and care home payment rates for next year. Tsai also spoke about it during a meeting with Illinois state officials, nursing home workers, residents and loved ones in Chicago in April.

Studies have found a strong link between staffing levels and care. CMS does not require a specific number of nurses and other staff, although some states do.

“We want to make sure the dollars get to the direct care staff to ensure high-quality care,” Tsai told KHN.

To receive a government paycheck, nursing homes must meet dozens of requirements aimed at ensuring high-quality care. They can be penalized in the event of an infraction. But federal investigations have found that inspectors can miss serious issues and that inspections don’t consistently meet CMS standards. One of the most common breaches was infection control.

In its request for public comment, CMS posed several questions, including: “Is there evidence that resources that could be spent on staffing are instead being used for expenditures that are not necessary for the quality patient care?

The federal interest follows laws enacted in three states – Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York – to tax care expenditures. Massachusetts requires nursing homes to spend at least 75% of their income on resident care. New Jersey nursing homes must spend at least 90% of Medicaid payments on resident care, and no more than 5% can go to profits. New York requires that at least 70% of nursing home revenue – including Medicaid, Medicare and private insurance payments – be used to care for residents and that at least 40% of money for care direct pay for staff “in contact with residents” . Profits are capped at 5%. All three states promise increased Medicaid payments to facilities that comply with the laws.

In April, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine endorsed the out-of-pocket spending strategy in a report on improving nursing care in homes.

“When you take public funds, those dollars should be put back into direct care,” said David Grabowski, a professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School and a member of the committee that authored the report. “We expect the nursing home to make the best judgment about the right kind of labour, material and capital expenditure to really produce the highest level of quality, but that just doesn’t matter. not been the case. This recommendation is therefore really an opportunity to put safeguards in place.

National nursing home industry groups oppose the demands, which come at a difficult time as many facilities face staffing shortages. In New York, two trade associations and about half of the state’s homes have filed two lawsuits to block the state spending directive.

Staffing is already “the No. 1 expense” for nursing homes, said Stephen Hanse, president and CEO of the New York State Health Facilities Association, which represents 350 nursing homes and has led one of the suits. “We are a hands-on industry.”

The 239 nursing homes that joined the association’s lawsuit say that if New York’s law had been in effect in 2019, facilities would have been forced to provide residents with an additional $824 million in direct care or return this amount to the State.

Hanse objects to the state telling nursing home administrators how to do their job. “You can have an amazing diet program, for example, and this law would require you to lay off diet workers and hire front-line workers to meet staffing needs,” he said.

The groups filing the lawsuits argue that forcing landlords to spend more money on direct care leaves less money for maintaining their facilities and the quality of care will suffer. They also claim that Medicaid does not cover resident care costs. Resident advocates say facilities can hide their profits by overpaying related businesses they own, such as laundry or catering businesses.

Although a spending mandate is new for nursing homes in the three states, it has become routine for health insurers nationwide. Under the Affordable Care Act’s “medical loss rate” provision, health insurance companies must spend at least 80% of premiums on the medical care of beneficiaries. A maximum of 20% can be spent on administrative costs, executive salaries, advertising and profits. Companies that exceed the cap must reimburse the difference to the beneficiaries.

In addition to a direct care spending mandate, Tsai said CMS is interested in a slightly different approach underway in Illinois, which made changes to nursing home regulations this year. His Nursing Home Tariff Reform Act increases Medicaid funding and then requires each home to hire at least 70% of the staff that state analysis shows residents need. The state then uses payroll and other data to verify that the establishment has complied. Otherwise, the difference will be deducted from his next payment.

“There are states across the country that are trying a range of approaches to ensure that system dollars from nursing facility reimbursement rates are actually – in one way or another – affected. sufficient and high-quality staff,” Tsai said. “That’s our primary goal.”

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The state disciplines health care providers

Chelsey W. Vogt
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0

For immediate release: June 9, 2022 (22-080)

Contact: Sharon Moysiuk, Communications 360-549-6471
Public Inquiries: Health Systems Customer Service 360-236-4700

OLYMPIA — The Washington State Department of Health has taken disciplinary action or withdrawn charges against the following health care providers in our state.

The Department’s Health Systems Quality Assurance Division works with boards, commissions, and advisory committees to establish accreditation standards for more than 80 health professions (eg, dentists, nurses, counsellors). Information on disciplinary action taken against doctors and medical assistants can be found on the Washington Medical Commission (WMC) website. Questions regarding WMC disciplinary action can be sent to media@wmc.wa.gov.

Information about health care providers can be found on the agency’s website. Click on “Find a healthcare provider licensein the “How do I?” section of the Department of Health website (doh.wa.gov). The site includes information about a health care provider‘s license status, title expiration and renewal date, disciplinary actions, and copies of legal documents issued after July 1998. This information is also available by calling 360-236-4700. Consumers who believe a health care provider has acted unprofessionally are encouraged to call and report their complaint.

Chelan County

In May 2022, the Board of Nursing charged a registered nurse Daphne Lelora Tobin Jacobsen (RN60560549) with unprofessional conduct for allegedly working as a nurse while impaired by alcohol.

Cowlitz County

In March 2022, the Health Secretary rejected an application for a licensed health care aide from Justine Mia Johnson (NA61235320) because she did not submit the substance use assessment report required for her application.

Island County

In May 2022, the Caregiver Program billed the Certified Caregiver Jack Parker Stewart III (NC60509469) with unprofessional conduct. Stewart allegedly violated a patient’s plan of care for transferring the patient from a wheelchair to a bed, which resulted in injury to the patient.

King’s County

In April 2022, the Board of Nursing charged a registered nurse Corina Saldivar (RN60474579) with unprofessional conduct. Saldivar reportedly withdrew hydromorphone for several patients, but did not document drug administration or wastage.

In April 2022, the Board of Nursing restored with conditions the registered nurse license of Nancy Alice O’Leary (RN00110987). O’Leary, who agreed to the terms, will participate in a substance use monitoring program.

In April 2022, the Secretary of Health ended the requirements for the Acting Physician Assistant, Certified Physician Assistant and Certified Nurse Assistant credentials of Jules Yvette Smith (IC60420324, CM60420323, NC10042799).

Kitsap County

In March 2022, the Health Secretary conditionally granted the home health aide license to Paul-John Santos Flores (HM60535647). Flores agreed to the terms, which include an assessment process and participation in a substance abuse program.

Pierce County

In March 2022, the Health Secretary refused a massage therapist license to Darian Elizabeth Nemec (MA61220241). In 2019, Nemec was convicted of driving under the influence of intoxicants and driving with a suspended or revoked license in Oregon.

In March 2022, the Board of Nursing rejected the Licensed Practical Nurse application of Shavon Renee McGuinness (LP60662086). McGuinness used the wrong form and submitted a transcript with errors and inconsistencies. The educational institution McGuiness named as having trained her has been implicated in fraudulent transcript schemes and is not authorized to award nursing degrees.

In April 2022, the Caregiver Program billed the licensed Caregiver Alexandra Smith-Rosas (NA61172518) with unprofessional conduct for allegedly taking controlled substances while on the job.

Spokane County

In May 2022, the Caregiver Program billed the Licensed Caregiver Beverly Ann Moore (NA00200586) with unprofessional conduct for allegedly taking medication from a patient for her own use.

Whatcom County

In April 2022, the Board of Nursing restored with conditions the registered nurse license of Matthew J. Danz (RN00148293). Danz agreed to the terms, which include probation until he completes a refresher course and participation in a substance use monitoring program.

out of state

Oregon: In May 2022, the Caregiver Program billed the Certified Caregiver Julia J. Black (NC60393654) with unprofessional conduct. The charges state that Black had a romantic and sexual relationship with a client and accepted money from that client to pay for part of his car.

Texas: In April 2022, the Board of Nursing charged Yangmotso Bhutia Antso (LP60196601) with unprofessional conduct. Antso, whose LPN credential has expired, allegedly attempted to obtain a registered nurse degree without acquiring the necessary training. Antso also allegedly misrepresented the facts during an investigation by the Board of Nursing.

Note to editors: Health care providers accused of unprofessional conduct have 20 days to respond in writing to the Department of Health. The case then enters the settlement process. If no disciplinary agreement can be reached, the matter will proceed to a hearing.

The DOH website is your source for lots of information. Find us on Facebook and Follow us on twitter. Subscribe to the DOH Blog, Link to public health.

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Student Loan Consolidation vs Refinancing – Forbes Advisor

Chelsey W. Vogt
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0

Editorial Note: We earn a commission on partner links on Forbes Advisor. Commissions do not affect the opinions or ratings of our editors.

For student borrowers, student loan consolidation and refinancing are two ways to manage payments if you have multiple loans. Although these strategies are similar, they have important differences and caveats.

If you’re thinking about consolidation versus refinancing, make sure you know the distinctions before submitting an application.

Consolidation vs Refinancing

Even though consolidation and refinancing have many similarities, they differ in some key points.

How does student loan refinancing work?

Student loan refinancing involves taking out a new private student loan to pay off your current student loans. Your refinanced loans will have a new interest rate and new repayment terms. Once your old loans are closed, you will start making monthly payments on the new loan.

Benefits of Student Loan Refinancing

  • Possibly lower interest rate. If you have good or excellent credit, you may qualify for a refinanced loan with a lower interest rate than you are currently paying. The lower your interest, the less you will pay over the total term of your loan.
  • Combine your loans into one easy payment. If you have multiple student loans, keeping track of your various interest rates and maturity dates can become overwhelming. Refinancing means you can combine multiple student loans into one easy payment each month.
  • Change loan servicer. If you are unhappy with your current loan officer, the only way to transfer your debt to another company is to refinance your student loans. With good or excellent credit, you can compare many different lenders and compare which ones offer the best interest rate, repayment terms, and lowest fees.

Disadvantages of Student Loan Refinancing

  • Lower interest is not guaranteed. Even if you qualify for a refinance, you might not qualify for a better interest rate than the one you are currently paying.
  • Lose federal protections. If you refinance your federal loans, you will lose access to all federal protections and benefits, including income-based repayment plans, more flexible forbearance, and public service loan forgiveness (PSLF).
  • A credit check is required. Refinancing requires a rigorous credit check. If you don’t have a strong credit history, you may not qualify without the help of a co-signer. And if you do, you might not get the full amount you asked for or the lowest interest rate available.

How to Apply for Student Loan Refinance

Refinancing can only be done through private lenders like banks, credit unions, and online lenders. If you are looking to refinance, consider the following:

1. Clean up your credit

Before looking at lenders, check your credit score so you know where you stand before submitting a loan application. If your score is lower than you would like, take steps to improve your credit before you begin the refinancing process.

2. Compare lenders

Once your credit is in order, you can compare refinance lenders and look for the best rates. Student loan refinancing requirements are not universal; make sure you are eligible with each lender based on your creditworthiness, the amount you wish to borrow, and your graduation status (some lenders do not offer student loan refinance to those who do not have no degree).

You should also review what each lender offers in terms of interest rates, repayment terms, and fees. If possible, complete a prequalification to see which lenders you might be compatible with.

3. Complete an application

Once you’ve selected a few top lenders, prequalify with them if you can. This process allows you to view estimated rates and terms for which you may qualify. If everything looks good, complete an application with each lender and wait for approval. Many lenders approve you in minutes while others may require more paperwork to complete your application.

Once you are approved, you will receive the final loan terms and conditions. Review the documents and submit the final signed forms to your lender.

4. Pay your new lender

Your new lender usually repays your old loans directly. It is important to continue paying your current loans until your new lender notifies you that they have been paid. Falling behind could make your loans delinquent before the refinance is completed, so be sure not to delay the process by missing payments.

How does student loan consolidation work?

Student loan consolidation involves taking out a consolidation loan directly from the US Department of Education and consolidating all of your federal student loans into one. Your new interest rate will be the average rate of your current loans, rounded to the nearest eight percent.

Benefits of Student Loan Consolidation

  • Combine multiple student loans into one. Consolidating your debt combines several student loans into one. This means that you will only have one payment to worry about each month.
  • Access to certain federal benefits. Depending on the type of student loans you have, consolidating them can help you access additional federal benefits. For example, borrowers with parent PLUS loans must consolidate their debt to access income-contingent repayment or forgiveness of government loans.
  • No credit check required. Like most other federal student loans, a credit check is not required to consolidate your debt. This means you can qualify even with bad credit.
  • Longest repayment terms offered. Direct consolidation loans have repayment terms of up to 30 years, which is longer than most private lenders. A longer repayment window will lower your monthly payment, but increase the total amount of interest you pay on the loan.

Disadvantages of Consolidating Student Loans

  • Only federal loans are eligible. You cannot consolidate student loans that you have obtained from private lenders.
  • It makes up exceptional interest. When you consolidate student debt, any unpaid interest becomes part of the principal balance. This means that you may be charged additional interest on your new higher balance.
  • Potential loss of certain federal benefits. Consolidation may negatively affect some of your existing federal benefits. For example, people enrolled in an income-driven repayment plan will lose credit for any payments you made before consolidation, which will delay your eligibility for loan forgiveness. Other borrowers may lose certain interest rate reductions or benefits in the event of loan cancellation.

How to Apply for Student Loan Consolidation

To apply for student loan consolidation, you will need to ensure that you are registered on the Federal Student Aid website. You will need:

  • A valid federal student aid ID card
  • Personal data such as your address, telephone number and email
  • Financial information, including details of your current loans and repayment plans

Before completing the application, review the loans you want to consolidate. Many people choose to consolidate all of their federal loans together, but depending on the types of debt you have, you may choose to consolidate only a portion of your loans.

The online application process should take around 30 minutes and no co-signer is required.

Refinancing vs. Consolidation: How to Decide Which is Better

Not everyone can or should refinance their student loans, and not all borrowers are eligible for consolidation.

You may consider refinancing your student loans if:

  • You have excellent credit. If you have good credit, you’re well on your way to not only qualifying for a refinance, but also accessing some of the lowest interest rates available. If you can’t lower your interest rate or receive other tangible benefits with your new loan, it’s probably not worth refinancing.
  • You have private student loans. Since federal student loans come with additional benefits and protections, refinancing these debts carries more risk. But if you have private student loans, you don’t have much to lose if you refinance, especially if you can save interest in the process.
  • You are not in a federal reimbursement program. Refinancing means you will lose federal protections, like more flexible forbearance, income-driven repayment plans, or federal forgiveness programs. If you’re not using these benefits (and won’t be needing them in the future), refinancing might be worth it.

You could consolidate your student loans if:

  • You only have federal student loans. Direct consolidation loans are only eligible for federal student loan borrowers.
  • You want to simplify payments. Since consolidation combines multiple federal loans into one, it can simplify the monthly payments you need to keep up with.
  • You want to reduce your monthly payments. Since direct consolidation loans have long repayment terms, up to 30 years, you can lower your monthly payment by consolidating. However, note that reducing your monthly payments usually results in an increase in interest paid over the life of the loan.

Norwood care home workers to join national day of action

Chelsey W. Vogt
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NORWOOD – Nursing home workers represented by Service Employees International Union New Jersey Local 1199 were scheduled to picket the Buckingham Care and Rehabilitation Center in Norwood as part of a day of nationwide action on Wednesday, the union said.

The action will take place in more than a dozen states at 3 p.m. Wednesday, according to a union press release.

Workers at the rehabilitation center will demand action to “properly enforce” the state’s Safe Staffing for Nursing Homes Act, which sets certified caregiver-to-patient ratios, the union said. A recent survey by NJ Advance Media found that six out of 10 nursing homes in the state do not meet the requirements of the law.

As such, workers are calling on the state health department to increase the number of inspectors, hold landlords accountable when they break the law, and freeze admissions to noncompliant facilities, said the syndicate.

“We all fought for the staffing law in New Jersey,” Pierre St. Honoré, a certified practical nurse at the rehabilitation center, said in the statement. “And we need the Department of Health to hold nursing home administrators accountable under the law.”

Patch has contacted Buckingham Care and Rehabilitation Center for comment.

Why Sabra Health Care REIT shares jumped 20% in May

Chelsey W. Vogt
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0

What happened

Shares of Sabra Healthcare REIT (NASDAQ: SBRA) jumped 20.2% in May, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The health-focused real estate investment trust (REITs) reported its first quarter results and completed a large-scale acquisition last month.

So what

Sabra Health Care REIT reported strong first quarter results in May. The Healthcare REITs continued to collect rent despite the lingering effects of the pandemic. In total, it has collected 99.5% of its projected rents since the start of the pandemic. The company also reported that occupancy trends at its skilled nursing properties remain healthy despite some initial headwinds related to the omicron variant of the coronavirus.

Image source: Getty Images.

The REIT also reported improvements in its managed senior housing portfolio. Revenue per occupied room (RevPOR) improved by nearly 6% over the past year for serviced residences. Meanwhile, RevPOR at independent residences was up more than 1% year over year.

Sabra has also taken steps to expand its portfolio. It purchased a managed senior housing community from its development pipeline for $26 million in the first quarter. In May, the company completed the purchase of a portfolio of high-quality seniors housing in Canada with a joint venture partner Housing for the elderly in Siena. The partners have paid a total of $236.5 million for 11 senior housing communities that Sienna will operate.

In other news last month, Sabra Health Care REIT received an upgrade from Mizuho analyst Vikram Malhotra. He raised his rating from neutral to buy while setting a price target of $15. Malhotra believes that the occupancy rate should continue to improve. He also performed a sensitivity analysis which shows that Sabra can continue to cover its 8.6% dividend.

However, not all analysts are so optimistic. Capital one analyst Daniel Bernstein reinstated coverage on the stock in early June. He set his quote at equal weight while lowering his price target from $18 per share to $15.50. Bernstein lowered his view as he remains cautious about the pace of recovery in the skilled nursing sector.

Now what

While Sabra Health Care REIT continues to face pandemic-related headwinds, conditions in the senior housing sector are improving. For this reason, the REIT should be able to maintain its large dividend. That makes it an attractive option for investors willing to take on a bit more risk for the higher yield and upside potential of the senior housing sector’s recovery from the headwinds it has faced during the pandemic.

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Loans for bad credit from trusted lenders

Chelsey W. Vogt
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0

How long does it take to raise a bad credit rating?

Depending on how you go about it, raising your credit score can take as little as a few months or as long as a few years. Quick warning here, though: credit repair companies that promise to erase your credit history overnight are a scam. They can’t legally do something you can’t do yourself. It is not possible to erase your history, although it is possible to make improvements to it. Here’s what you can do for yourself:

Order your credit report

You are entitled to one free credit report per year from each of the “big three” credit reporting agencies – TransUnion, Equifax and Experian. It’s easy to request a copy of all three at once from a site like annualcreditreport.com.

Once you have received your three credit reports, review each with a fine-toothed comb to check for errors. Errors can be simple, like a misspelled name or wrong address. It can be serious, like listing a debt you don’t own or a balance you paid off years ago.

If you find any errors (no matter how small), report them to the credit bureau in question. Once you dispute an error, credit reporting agencies have 30 to 45 days to prove that the credit report is correct or to remove the error from your report. Even the smallest mistakes can lower your credit score, which means this simple gesture can give it a boost.

Build a credit history

A bad credit score isn’t always the result of not paying bills on time. Sometimes it’s a matter of not having a credit history. If you’re fresh out of school or recently immigrated to the United States, your credit history may be too thin for FICO® to guarantee you’re good at paying your bills.

Building a credit history can keep people from taking advantage of you and can be as simple as opening a store credit card and making all payments on time. You could also:

  • Pull out a secure credit card to pay for everyday items, like groceries and gas.
  • Ask someone with a high credit rating to co-sign a debt for you.
  • Sign up for Experian Boost to have utility, telecom, and select streaming service payments reported to credit reporting agencies.

Pay off the debt

Remember that creditors want you to have access to credit without using much of it. Focus on any outstanding debts that you are late paying or have stopped paying and getting them paid off. While that might mean taking a part-time job, hosting a garage sale, or selling something of value, the long-term benefits of getting those debts off your credit report are worth it.

Paying off your debt does two things: it reduces the amount you owe (30% of your credit score) and it shows you’re serious about managing your financial obligations.

Consider a secured loan

There are two types of personal loans: secured loans and unsecured loans. Here’s the difference: With a secured loan, you’re putting something of value as collateral. With an unsecured loan, your signature is all that is needed. The advantage of a secured personal loan is that you may qualify for a bad credit loan that would otherwise be out of reach. Moreover, the interest rate of a secured loan is lower than the rate of an unsecured personal loan. The downside is that missed payments give the personal lender the legal right to take possession of the collateral.

Consolidate debt

If you find yourself with high interest debt, consolidating it into one low interest personal loan may be the solution. Say you have five credit cards, each with a spending limit of $5,000. Let’s also imagine that each card is maxed out, which means you owe a total of $25,000. You make the minimum payment on each, but because of the interest rate, the balances don’t seem to go down.

Getting the best personal loan at a lower interest rate will not only save money in interest payments, but will also provide a date when the debt will be paid off. As long as you put those credit cards away and don’t use them while you pay off the consolidation loan, you’ll end up making money.

If qualifying for a bad credit personal loan helps you consolidate credit card debt, cover an emergency expense, or make your life easier, these lenders are definitely worth exploring.

Tryko Partners adds 2 skilled nursing facilities, in Berlin and Mount Holly

Chelsey W. Vogt
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Tryko Partners announced on Friday that it has expanded its skilled nursing portfolio in New Jersey with the completed purchase of two facilities from Virtua Health. The Berlin and Mount Holly facilities will be renamed Berlin Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center and Mount Holly Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center respectively.

Virtua Health, South Jersey’s largest healthcare system, selected The Brick-based Tryko as its buyer after extensive research to find the best solution for Virtua, facility staff and current and future residents. Tryko’s facilities are backed by Marquis Health Consulting Services, a highly skilled, vision-driven nursing home consultancy.

Virtua CEO and President Dennis Pullin cites compatible cultures among the reasons he pursued the deal with Tryko Partners.

“At Virtua, we are continually evaluating our care portfolio and rebalancing our offerings in order to adapt, succeed and be of greatest benefit to the region,” said Pullin. “By divesting ourselves of the skilled nursing field, we are better equipped to reinvest in areas where we can really make an impact.

“With Tryko Partners – and Marquis Health Consulting Services – we have found a partner that will support an optimal continuum for patients,” added Piullin. “Going forward, we will be working with Marquis Health Consulting Services to support these excellent skilled nursing centers with our specialist physicians and providers, as well as ancillary and home care services.”

The stand-alone Mount Holly facility has 180 licensed beds. The 128-bed Berlin facility is part of a larger Virtua campus. Virtua’s community services at the Berlin site – including radiology, laboratory and a satellite emergency service – are unaffected by this sale.

“Our company carefully targets opportunities involving facilities that are market leaders in providing quality care and services,” said Uri Kahanow, Chief Acquisition Officer of Tryko Partners. “The Berlin and Mount Holly centers have an excellent reputation, dedicated staff and a culture of going the extra mile for residents and patients.”

Winthrop nursing home placed on ‘special’ federal list

Chelsey W. Vogt
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A Winthrop nursing home with a history of federal fines has been placed on a national list of facilities with ‘serious quality issues’ after two residents wandered off in separate incidents last year. The second time, the resident was hit and killed by a car.

Heritage Rehabilitation and Living Center, a 28-bed nursing home, was listed as a “specialty facility” earlier this year by the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This means Heritage will be subject to twice as many inspections and could face penalties if it fails to improve.

“Our nursing homes are caring for a very vulnerable population of people (so) protecting quality of care and quality of life is so important,” said Brenda Gallant, Maine’s long-term care ombudsman. . “The regulations are there to protect residents. Thus, when there are deficiencies of a serious nature, they must be corrected, and then improvements must be made to protect residents.

Heritage is owned by North Country Associates, Maine’s largest long-term care provider. Neither Heritage’s administrator nor North Country Associates responded to requests for comment.

Reasons for Special Focus Designation

On a rainy November night, police found a Heritage resident without shoes wandering along the road about a mile from the facility, according to a Report from the Department of Health and Social Services.

When police brought the resident back to the facility, staff “had no idea the resident was missing or how long the resident had been gone,” the inspection report said. Heritage was fined $109,600.

Less than a month later, on December 6, another Heritage resident wandered off and was hit and killed by a pickup truck half a mile away on Highway 202.

Donna Driscoll, 56, was recovering from a broken leg and was about to be transferred to a memory care center in Falmouth before she died, her family said. WGME at the time. She had a history of wandering and wore an ankle monitor that was supposed to prevent doors from opening if she tried to leave.

The ankle monitor was how police learned she was a Heritage resident, according to a DHHS report. When police attended the facility, staff first assured the officer that all of their residents were there. But when the police asked them to check, they noticed that a resident was missing.

The wandering guard should have prompted the doors to lock if she got too close. A company then checked the system and found that it was working properly.

There were 24 residents and four staff present at the time, including the director of nursing.

Heritage was also cited for failing to have a written transfer agreement with a local hospital and for failing to ensure staff members had undergone training on abuse, neglect, exploitation and misappropriation. resident property and dementia care.

The incidents contributed to regulators’ decision to list Heritage as a special facility, DHHS spokeswoman Jackie Farwell confirmed. The decision was based on a “persistent low-quality pattern of a facility’s last three standard inquiries and complaints”, rather than a single event.

Nursing homes must meet national standards

Nursing homes are required to follow federal regulations on all aspects of care, including staff, medications, activities and food, said Gallant, the long-term care ombudsman. Managers send a report to the establishment on how it can improve, and the establishment must respond by explaining how it will correct these problems.

Citations for “failures” of various severity levels during an annual inspection are common. The national average number of impairments for a nursing home is six or seven, according to CMS.

Nursing homes that have more problems, more serious problems, or a pattern of problems over a long period of time are placed in the Special Focus Facility program. These facilities are then inspected more frequently — every six months.

CMS is using increasingly stringent enforcement measures to bring the facility into compliance, an agency spokesperson told the Maine Monitor. If the facility has not corrected its noncompliance after three months, CMS is required by law to withhold Medicare payments for new resident admissions. If he still does not comply after six months, CMS is required to terminate his participation in Medicare and Medicaid.

But a nursing home doesn’t have to be a specialty facility to face penalties for deficiencies, Gallant said.

Most nursing homes improve the quality of their care within two years, but about 10% end up being terminated by Medicare and Medicaid.

“The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is committed to improving the quality of care and quality of life for all nursing home residents,” the spokesperson said. “Patient health and safety, access to reliable, high-quality care, and the treatment of all nursing home residents with dignity and respect are the top priorities in all of our efforts.”

Heritage was placed on the federal list in February. It is Maine’s only retirement home currently listed as a specialty facility.

The Marshwood Center in Lewiston was an institution specializing in December 2019 but made enough improvements to be removed from the program.

To “graduate” from the program, a facility must complete two consecutive inspections with evidence of improved quality of care, with no citation indicating harm or potential for serious harm to residents, Farwell said.

Gallant said families often have to make quick decisions during a crisis about where to send their loved ones. They may be unaware of resident protections and publicly available facility information.

Inspection reports and ratings for all Maine facilities are available at the CMS website. It includes scores for health inspections, staffing and quality metrics, as well as information on COVID-19 vaccination rates, fire safety inspections and penalties.

Gallant also encouraged families to ask nursing home administrators about the shortcomings cited and what steps they are taking to address them. And they can tour the facility to observe staff interactions with residents.

Residents and family members are often hesitant to complain for fear of retaliation from the facility, Gallant said, but she has never seen any kind of retaliation. They are able to solve problems in a “respectful” way.

“It’s a good thing that the focus is on care and quality improvement. And for residents, it’s important that we do all we can to ensure that the elderly and disabled who are served in nursing homes receive the highest quality of care – quality of life – possible. This is what we would want for our loved ones or for ourselves.

Rose Lundy is the health care reporter for The Maine Monitor. She can be reached by email at rose@themainemonitor.org.

British Columbia’s health care crisis continues to worsen

Chelsey W. Vogt
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When we last left John Horgan and his province’s health issues, the premier of British Columbia was throwing an f-bomb at the Legislative Assembly out of frustration.

It was a few weeks ago. Things haven’t improved much since then.

It’s a story to watch in Canada, as BC’s primary care system finds itself “reeling” – Mr. Horgan’s word, not mine – on the brink of calamity. If that sounds like too strong a word, consider some of the things that have happened recently.

There has been a wave of resignations among health care workers in northern British Columbia, including half of the doctors in intensive care units at the region’s largest hospitals. These doctors presented their resignation in sign of frustration at the overwork and understaffing in hospitals in the region.

There is already a well-documented shortage of doctors, not only in the North, but almost everywhere in the province. More than a million British Columbians do not have a family doctor, and tens of thousands of new people are pouring into the province each year, compounding the problem.

It put Health Minister Adrian Dix in the spotlight and led to tense exchanges this week in the legislature, the same legislature where his boss Mr Horgan swore in response to the heckling from the benches of the opposition. The Prime Minister blamed the whole mess on a lack of resources and pressured Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to give more money to the provinces for health care funding.

The provincial government has set aside $6 million to hire more health care workers in the northern region of the province alone. Dix also said the government was funding 600 new nursing posts at provincial universities, with a particular focus on meeting urgent needs in the north and interior. But the reality is that there is a shortage of nurses across British Columbia

Last week, 16,000 health care workers were on sick leave, the highest percentage in the north and interior of the province. Many of them refused to go to work for fear of catching COVID-19. However, many are simply exhausted after two years of the pandemic.

Nursing is already a tough enough job. Add to that a pandemic and the abuse that many medical professionals have faced over the past two years and many wonder if this is really the job for them. Many doctors ask themselves the same question.

It’s a mess.

And this represents a huge political problem for the Horgan government – a real crisis for which there is no easy solution.

Dix says the province has added 30,000 health care workers to the system over the past five years. Liberal Leader Kevin Falcon disputes that figure, saying Statistics Canada figures show there were 10,084 fewer healthcare workers in provincial hospitals in February this year, compared to the summer of 2017.

Mr. Dix’s office says Mr. Falcon’s numbers don’t reflect changing job classifications, yada, yada.

The quarrel over the numbers does not change the realities on the ground. The province has seen emergency departments forced to close due to a lack of staff. BC has the longest average wait times in the country for walk-in clinics, which are increasingly relied upon by people without a family doctor. Currently, that average wait time in British Columbia is 58 minutes. In Victoria, it’s 161 minutes. The average in Canada is 25 minutes.

The government has had difficulty recruiting health care workers due to the high cost of living, especially in Metro Vancouver. Yes, the weather may be good, but you’ll probably never own a house and the rents are incredibly high. Not exactly something you want to put on a recruiting poster.

It’s hard not to feel some sympathy for the government, as this issue has been in the making for years. Dix’s ministry has established 27 urgent and primary care centers across the province since taking office in 2017. It’s likely the biggest investment ever in this area of ​​the health care system. And yet, things still seem to be at a crisis level.

And it’s not something that can be fixed quickly.

It takes years to educate and train a nurse. It takes even longer to educate and train a doctor. It doesn’t help that a lot of people who go into medicine choose not to become a family doctor because, frankly, they can make a lot more money in other areas of health care.

As the pandemic slowly recedes, the BC government faces a dilemma that is just as – if not more – vexing than a virus that only replicates once every hundred years.

And the health care crisis in the province will likely last much, much longer.

We have a weekly Western Canada newsletter written by our British Columbia and Alberta bureau chiefs, providing a comprehensive package of news you need to know about the region and its place in the issues facing Canada confronted. register today.

New York State Lawmakers Take Steps to Strengthen Nursing Home Oversight, Complaint Care, and More

Chelsey W. Vogt
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Advocates for nursing home residents today praised state lawmakers for passing legislation to strengthen New York’s nursing home oversight program.

The State Assembly today voted unanimously final passage of a bill (A10045A-Clark) requiring the Long-Term Care Mediation Program (LTCOP) to publish in its annual reports the types and patterns of complaints received by its regional offices; and the number of visits by the ombudsman to each long-term care facility.

The state Senate passed the companion bill (S8617A-May) on May 24 with a strong, bipartisan vote.

The move follows a $2.5 million increase in state funding in this year’s state budget for the federally required program, more than double its previous federally-funded budget. the state.

LTCOP has fallen behind programs in other states while more than 15,000 people have died in New York City nursing homes since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

“This bill would give policy makers the information they need to ensure the long-term care ombudsman program is as effective as possible in advocating for and speaking on behalf of the most vulnerable population in our society: nursing home residents,” said Beth, director of AARP in New York State. Finkel. “After more than 15,000 deaths in New York nursing homes and since the start of the pandemic, we need a strong advocate. AARP New York thanks Senator Rachel May and Assemblywoman Sarah Clark for leading this bill in their respective chambers, and we urge Governor Kathy Hochul to sign it.

“Mediators are on the front line to protect vulnerable residents of retirement homes and assisted living facilities. We thank Senator May and Assemblyman Clark for their leadership on this bill, which would help ensure that the important work of the Ombudsman Program on behalf of residents and families has the greatest impact possible,” said Richard Mollot, executive director of the long-term care community. Coalition.

Related: Tips for When Life Gets Busy: How to Feel Less Overwhelmed

“The ombudsmen are the eyes and ears of long-term care. They become the trusted person that residents can count on to defend them. I applaud and thank Senator May and Assemblyman Clark for sponsoring this bill so that we can strengthen the long-term care ombudsman program, generate the data we need to make change and ensure that our most vulnerable residents receive the help and support they need. and deserve,” said Ann Marie Cook, president and CEO of Lifespan of Greater Rochester.

The legislation is also supported by the Center for Elder Law & Justice.

Although the LTCOP cannot penalize long-term care facilities, it is the only agency authorized to regularly visit facilities to observe conditions, monitor care, and help residents and families resolve issues.

In addition to assisting individual residents and families, the LTCOP is required by federal rules to act as an independent spokesperson for residents regarding laws and policies that impact their care.

AARP

AARP is the nation’s largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose their lifestyle as they age.

With a national presence and nearly 38 million members, AARP strengthens communities and champions what matters most to families: health security, financial stability and personal fulfillment.

AARP also produces the most popular publications in the country: AARP The Magazine and AARP Bulletin.

To learn more, visit www.aarp.org or follow us on Twitter: @AARPNY and Facebook: AARP New York

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Tryko supports 2 Virtua Health Skilled Nursing Facilities

Chelsey W. Vogt
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Two Virtua Health Skilled Nursing Facilities have been added to Marquis Health’s roster of consulting services with Tryko Partners’ purchase of the Virtua Health locations.

Tryko announced the conclusion of the agreement on June 3. Financial terms were not disclosed.

According to Tryko, one of the reasons Virtua chose the company as a buyer was because of its culture compatibility, ensuring a good fit for the seller, as well as facility staff and current or future residents.

Virtua Health and Marquis Health Consulting Services teams celebrated the next chapter of Berlin Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center and Mount Holly Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center in June 2022. Pictured in Berlin, L-R: Virtua’s Dr. John Matsinger , executive vice president and chief operating officer, and Rhonda Jordan, executive vice president and chief human resources officer; Michael Smith of Marquis, Division President, Norman Rokeach, President of Marquis Ltd., and Jennifer Hertzog, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development, Mid-Atlantic; and Dennis Pullin, President and CEO of Virtua. – TRYKO PARTNERS

“At Virtua, we are continually evaluating our care portfolio and rebalancing our offerings in order to adapt, succeed and be of greatest benefit to the region,” said Dennis Pullin, President and CEO of Virtua, in a statement. “By divesting ourselves of the skilled nursing field, we are better equipped to reinvest in areas where we can really make an impact.

“With Tryko Partners – and Marquis Health Consulting Services – we have found a partner that will support an optimal continuum for patients,” he continued, adding that Virtua would continue to work with the new operator by providing support through “our physicians and specialist providers, and attendant and home care services.

The Camden and Burlington county locations will be renamed Berlin Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center and Mount Holly Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center, respectively.

In Mount Holly, the free-standing facility has 180 licensed beds. In Berlin, the location is part of a larger Virtua campus and has 128 beds. Community services include radiology, a laboratory and a satellite emergency service, all of which are unchanged by the sale, according to Tryko.

“Our business carefully targets opportunities involving facilities that are market leaders in providing quality care and services,” said Uri Kahanow, Chief Acquisition Officer of Tryko Partners. “The Berlin and Mount Holly centers have an excellent reputation, dedicated staff and a culture of going the extra mile for residents and patients.”

Earlier this year, Tryko expanded its portfolio along the Jersey Shore with a pair of formerly family-owned skilled nursing facilities.

Concerns are raised over doctor shortages and lack of health care in Keremeos, BC – Okanagan

Chelsey W. Vogt
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“Long waits, limited services and restricted hours,” is how Keremeos resident Shaun Adams described the current state of the health system in the village.

The South Similkameen Health Center in the Okanagan Village is open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., but is closed nights and Sundays.

“There are no doctors available, we can’t get doctor’s appointments in this town. And so, this place doesn’t meet the needs of the community at all,” Adams said.

“And a month-long wait just to get into a lab for a blood test already – that’s inefficiency, not the fault of the already hard-working staff.”

Read more:

ER doctor raises alarm over overcapacity and understaffing at Kelowna General Hospital

The story continues under the ad

According to Interior Health, outside of the health center‘s current hours, residents should call 911 or go to one of three nearby emergency departments – Penticton, Princeton or Oliver – which are each approximately 40 minutes.

“If you have a heart attack or stroke after hours or on a Sunday, you have no hope of being served at this establishment. You have to call 9-1-1 and hope for the best,” Adams said.

Interior Health said it’s important to note that critical patients are often redirected to higher level care centers in the region.

Read more:

British Columbia introduces vaccination mandate for all remaining healthcare workers

The South Similkameen Health Center is facing a staffing crisis that has impacted wait times.

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The number of doctors at the center dropped dramatically after the province introduced a mandatory COVID vaccination policy for healthcare workers last year.


Click to play the video:







Residents of Keremeos worried about restricted emergency hours
Residents of Keremeos concerned about restricted ER hours – Nov 2, 2021

Mayor of Keremeos, Manfred Bauer, said the staffing shortage goes beyond just doctors.

The story continues under the ad

“Like so many other municipalities in British Columbia, we’re going through the same staffing shortage issues — (the) pandemic has certainly contributed to that,” Bauer said.

“It’s a bigger problem. It’s not just the shortage of doctors, (it’s) nursing… lab techs, addiction mental health counselors.

Read more:

Health care workers call for plan in federal budget to handle health care crisis

The mayor said that while the staffing shortage is a concern, the village is actively working to find solutions.

“Maybe easier access to school, maybe financial incentives so that people entering this field (not) are stuck with big debts when they get out,” Bauer said.

“(We) are already trying to do incentives in terms of how can we provide supportive housing for these kind of (medical staff). We are looking at the big picture, but of course, as a small community, we rely on the province to do the major work.


Click to play the video: The population of







The population of Keremeos is the oldest in the Similkameen-Okanagan
Keremeos population oldest in Similkameen-Okanagan – May 4, 2022

© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Abandoned nursing home to become affordable housing community

Chelsey W. Vogt
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RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) – The former Seven Hills Health Care Center in east Richmond and Henrico will soon become an affordable housing community.

Funding of $23 million will transform the derelict building into a Cool Lane Commons affordable housing community. This is Virginia Supportive Housing’s first affordable housing project in Henrico County.

Henrico, Richmond and local religious leaders inaugurated the site on Wednesday.

It will offer 86 one-bedroom, one-bathroom units with kitchens for homeless or low-income people. A fitness area, computer lab and laundry room will also be included for residents. The renovation comes at a time when rising rents are forcing people out of their homes.

“In Richmond we live – we have 19-20% of people living below the poverty line. A number of our children live in poverty,” Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said.

It’s a growing problem, he says, that takes an entire village to overcome.

“We always try to divide and say ‘church and state and church and government can’t work together,’ but we see it can be done,” Gould-Champ said.

Gould-Champ has pastored Faith Community Baptist Church, located across from Cool Lane Commons, for nearly 30 years. She has had her eyes on the building since it closed in 2008.

“I knew we couldn’t afford that building across the street, but I knew what we didn’t want it to be. We didn’t want to be another store or another this or that,” Gould-Champ said.

The City of Richmond promised years ago that companies must include the church in all future plans for the building.

“Everyone was turned down until finally they sent Allison to me with Virginia Supportive Housing [and] their vision for affordable housing, and I immediately reached out to her,” Gould-Champ said.

Its community empowerment mission will continue by providing on-site services to residents trying to get back on their feet.

“It will help with that because there is a group that comes from shelters who will be living across the street, but there are also apartments for those who cannot find affordable housing, and that is the greatest need,” she said.

Cool Lane Commons is scheduled to open in 2023.

Copyright 2022 WWBT. All rights reserved.

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Nine nursing facilities affiliated with Genesis HealthCare

Chelsey W. Vogt
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KENNETT SQUARE, Pa., June 01, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Genesis Healthcare, one of the nation’s largest post-acute care providers, today announced that nine of its affiliated nursing facilities have been recognized as 2022 recipients of the Bronze – Commitment to Quality Award by the American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) for their commitment to improving the lives of residents through quality care. The honor is the first of three progressive award tiers under the AHCA/NCAL National Quality Awards program. The program, presented by the leading long-term and post-acute care association, honors providers across the country who have demonstrated their commitment to improving the quality of care for our nation’s seniors and people with disabilities.

The nine facilities receiving the bronze honor are:

Bristol Green Village – Bristol, CT
Pine Point Center – Scarborough, Maine
Crestwood Center – Milford, NH
Langdon Place Dover – Dover, NH
Ridgewood Center – Bedford, NH
Wolfeboro Bay Center – Wolfeboro, NH
The Belvedere – Chester, Pennsylvania
Chapel Manor – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Willows Center – Parkersburg, West Virginia

“We are so proud that these nine centers have been honored for their commitment to quality improvement,” said Melissa Powell, COO of Genesis HealthCare. “Quality of care is the foundation of everything we do. These center teams have demonstrated their commitment to providing ever-increasing value to patients, residents and other customers. We couldn’t be more proud of their achievement.

Created by AHCA/NCAL in 1996, the National Quality Award Program is a rigorous three-tier process that is reviewed and judged by trained experts against a set of nationally recognized standards for organizational excellence. The standards of Baldrige Performance Excellence Program help organizations achieve superior performance to improve the quality of life and care of residents and staff in long-term care facilities.

Suppliers begin the quality improvement process at the Bronze level, where they develop an organizational profile with critical performance elements such as vision, mission statement, and key strengths and challenges. Bronze applicants must also demonstrate their ability to implement a sustainable performance improvement system. Trained reviewers review each application to determine if the center has met the criteria requirements. As a recipient of Bronze – Quality commitment price, these locations can now move forward in developing approaches and achieve advanced levels of performance that meet the Silver – Achievement in Quality award criteria.

“Quality of care is always a priority for providers, and this achievement celebrates the commitment and courage of these nine facilities to find ways to improve the lives of their patients and residents,” said Tammy, Board Chair. AHCA/NCAL National Quality Award Supervisors National Award. Kelly. “I hope this will serve as a model for other centers to begin a formal process of continuous reflection and improvement in the delivery of quality care to staff, older people and people with disabilities.”

The awards will be celebrated at the 73rd Annual AHCA/NCALrd Convention & Expo in Nashville, Tennessee, October 9-12, 2022.

ABOUT GENESIS HEALTHCARE
Genesis HealthCare is a holding company with subsidiaries that, on a combined basis, constitutes one of the nation’s largest post-acute care companies, providing services to more than 250 skilled nursing facilities and senior living communities/ assisted in 22 states across the country. Genesis subsidiaries also provide rehabilitation therapies to approximately 1,100 healthcare providers in 43 states and the District of Columbia. References in this release to “Genesis”, “the company”, “we”, “us” and “our” refer to Genesis Healthcare, Inc. and each of its wholly owned companies. Visit our website at www.genesishcc.com.

ABOUT AHCA/NCAL
The American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) represent more than 14,000 nonprofit and owner skilled nursing facilities, assisted living communities, subacute care centers and homes for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. By providing solutions for quality care, AHCA/NCAL aims to improve the lives of millions of frail, elderly and disabled people who receive long-term or post-acute care every day in our member facilities. For more information, visit www.ahcancal.org.

Media Contact:
Lori Mayer
610-283-4995

Judge rules in favor of motion to deny anonymity to healthcare workers suing state

Chelsey W. Vogt
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A federal judge hearing a lawsuit against the state’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers has ruled in favor of a motion filed by two media companies challenging the plaintiffs’ anonymity.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Jon D. Levy on Tuesday issued a 13-page ruling that requires previously anonymous plaintiffs to file an amended complaint — containing their names — by June 7. Governor Janet Mills and the State of Maine are named as defendants in the case.

“After carefully weighing the relevant factors, I conclude that the plaintiffs have failed in their heavy burden of demonstrating the need to overcome the strong presumption favoring public access to civil proceedings, as required for them to continue under a pseudonym,” Levy wrote in her decision.

The motion to uncover the identity of the plaintiffs was filed by the two companies that own the Portland Press Herald, the Kennebec Journal, the Morning Sentinel and the Lewiston Sun Journal.

The newspapers, mentioned in the court documents as intervenors, argued that the plaintiffs should not continue to be allowed to proceed under a pseudonym because “the plaintiff’s alleged fear of harm no longer outweighs the public interest in open judicial proceedings”.

The plaintiffs are Maine healthcare workers who, in August 2021, challenged a change in state law that requires employees of Maine’s designated healthcare facilities to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The plaintiffs’ reason for refusing the vaccine “is rooted in their religious objection to abortion and their assertion that fetal stem cells were used in the development of COVID-19 vaccines,” the court documents state.

Levy explained that at the start of the trial, he allowed the healthcare workers to proceed anonymously after arguing that their reasonable apprehension of harm outweighed the public interest in open litigation. Levy said he reserved the power to reconsider.

In Tuesday’s ruling, Levy said “the plaintiffs’ religious beliefs and their resulting medical decisions not to be vaccinated against COVID-19, whether considered separately or together, are not material in matters of privacy so important that they warrant pseudonymous proceedings”.

“In the final analysis, however, there is a near total absence of evidence that their expressed fears are objectively reasonable,” Levy wrote. “In this case, it has not been demonstrated that the privacy interests of the plaintiffs outweigh the public interest associated with the presumption of openness that applies to civil proceedings.”

Liberty Counsel, the conservative group representing the plaintiffs, argued that Maine must offer a religious exemption for vaccines because it offers a medical exemption. The rule treats people who seek religious exemption less favorably, supports the freedom advocate, and therefore violates their right to freely practice their religion.

It was unclear Tuesday night whether the plaintiffs planned to appeal Levy’s decision.

Federal judges at every level — the United States District Court, the 1st United States Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, and then the United States Supreme Court — refused to block the entry into force. warrant while the courts considered the merits of the case. Liberty Counsel, a conservative group that represents plaintiffs, then filed a motion for writ of certiorari, seeking a full briefing and oral argument before the Supreme Court. The motion was denied in February.

The mandate took effect in October and major health care providers reported at the time that most workers had decided to get vaccinated and keep their jobs. The case is different from the legal battle over the federal vaccination mandate for private company employees.

Maine has not allowed hospital and nursing home workers to opt out of injections for religious reasons and all nine plaintiffs, according to Levy, must now identify themselves demanded that option.

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Updated Reports on Nursing Home Chairs Market Size, Growth, Revenue and Regional Analysis – 2028

Chelsey W. Vogt
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The Global”nursing home chair market“The report provides insight into the global industry, including valuable facts and figures. This research study explores the global market in detail such as industry chain structures, raw material suppliers, and manufacturing. The nursing home chair sales market examines the major segments of the market scale. This smart study provides historical data as well as a forecast from 2022 to 2028.

The entire value chain and the critical downstream and upstream elements are examined in this report. This market report covers the technical data, manufacturing facility analysis, and raw material supply analysis for the Home Furniture industry and also explains which product has the highest penetration, its profit margins and market share.

Main Drivers and Obstacles:

High-impacting factors and rendering drivers have been studied in the Nursing Home Chair market report to help readers understand the overall development. Additionally, the report contains restrictions and challenges that may hinder players. This will help users pay attention and make informed trading decisions. The specialists also looked at the next business prospects.

In its latest report, ReportsGlobe offers a comprehensive overview of Nursing Home Chair Market with emphasis on keyword dynamics including driving forces, restraints, opportunities, trends and in-depth information about the structure of the nursing home chair market. The sales of Nursing Home Chair in the global market will increase as business and advanced technology increase. With the covid-19 epidemic, companies have become very dependent on digital platforms to survive.

Retirement Home Chair Market Segmentation:

Nursing Home Chairs Market, By Application (2016-2027)

  • old man using
  • patient using
  • Other

Nursing Home Chairs Market, By Product (2016-2027)

  • Manual nursing home chair
  • Electric nursing home chair

Key Players Operating in the Retirement Home Chair Market:

  • Dupont Medical
  • Medical and Rehabilitation Axis
  • hidemar
  • LINE
  • Lojer
  • Malvestio-Furniture for healthcare facilities
  • Meden-Inmed
  • Merivaara
  • PRACTICE
  • Primus Medical
  • RCN MEDIZIN
  • Reasonable size

Nursing Home Chairs Market Segment Analysis

The market research explores new data in the Retirement Home Chair market report. It examines the market size in terms of the value of each segment, as well as how market dynamics are likely to change over time. The report then divides this information into types and proposed applications, with a geographical breakdown (North America, Asia, Europe, and Rest of the World). In addition, the report examines the structure of the industry, offers estimates of growth, forecast period, revenue value, and volume in industrial applications, and sheds light on industry competition.

Scope of the Nursing Home Chairs Market Report

ATTRIBUTES

The description

ESTIMATED YEAR

2022

YEAR OF REFERENCE

2021

FORECAST YEAR

2022 to 2028

HISTORICAL YEAR

2020

SECTORS COVERED

Types, applications, end users, and more.

REPORT COVER

Revenue Forecast, Business Ranking, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors and Trends

BY REGION

North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa

Regional Analysis For Nursing Home Chair Market:

The Nursing Home Chair market research report details current market trends, development outline, and several research methodologies. It illustrates the key factors that directly manipulate the market, for example, production strategies, development platforms, and product portfolio. According to our researchers, even minor changes in product profiles could lead to huge disruptions in the factors mentioned above.

  • North America includes the United States, Canada and Mexico
  • Europe includes Germany, France, UK, Italy, Spain
  • South America includes Colombia, Argentina, Nigeria and Chile
  • Asia Pacific includes Japan, China, Korea, India, Saudi Arabia and Southeast Asia

Goals and Objectives of Nursing Home Chairs Market Research

  • Understanding the Nursing Home Chair opportunities and advancements determines the market strengths, along with the key regions and countries involved in the market growth.
  • Study the various segments of the Retirement Home Chair market and the dynamics of the Retirement Home Chair in the market.
  • Categorize nursing home chair segments with increasing growth potential and assess the futuristic segment market.
  • To analyze the most important trends related to the different segments that help decrypt and convince the Retirement Home Chair market.
  • Check region-specific growth and development in the Nursing Home Chair Market.
  • Understand the key stakeholders in the Nursing Home Chair market and the competitive image value of the Nursing Home Chair market leaders.
  • To study the key plans, initiatives, and strategies for the development of the Nursing Home Chair Market.

The study thoroughly examines the profiles of major market players and their key financial aspects. This comprehensive business analysis report is useful for all new and existing participants when designing their business strategies. This report covers KEYWORD production, revenue, market share and growth rate for each key company and covers the breakdown data (production, consumption, revenue and market share) by regions, type and applications. Historical nursing home chair distribution data from 2016-2021 and forecast for 2022-2028.

Global Nursing Home Chairs Market Research Report 2022-2028

Chapter 1 Nursing Home Chairs Market Overview

Chapter 2 Global Economic Impact on Industry

Chapter 3 Global Market Competition by Manufacturers

Chapter 4 Global Production, Revenue (Value) by Region

Chapter 5 Global Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions

Chapter 6 Global Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type

Chapter 7 Global Market Analysis by Application

Chapter 8 Manufacturing Cost Analysis

Chapter 9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers

Chapter 10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders

Chapter 11 Market Effect Factors Analysis

Chapter 12 Global Nursing Home Chairs Market Forecast

How Reports Globe is different from other market research providers:

The creation of Reports Globe has been underpinned by providing clients with a holistic view of market conditions and future possibilities/opportunities to derive maximum benefit from their business and assist in decision making. Our team of in-house analysts and consultants work tirelessly to understand your needs and provide the best possible solutions to meet your research needs.

Our team at Reports Globe follows a rigorous data validation process, which allows us to publish publisher reports with minimal or no deviation. Reports Globe collects, separates and publishes over 500 reports each year covering products and services in many areas.

Contact us:

Mr. Mark Williams

Account Manager

WE: +1-970-672-0390

E-mail: [email protected]be.com

Website: Reportsglobe.com

Rising health care costs and impact on future retirees

Chelsey W. Vogt
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In recent months, Americans’ anxiety about inflation has grown steadily. A Gallup poll coordinated in March noted that 17% of Americans believe the high cost of living and inflation are a significant issue, up from just 8% in January. For people approaching retirement, there are planning considerations to make as prices continue to rise – most notable, given the significant cost to retirees, is that of health care.

Although inflation can drive up the prices of prescriptions and medical supplies in the short term, health care costs get ahead long-term inflation, regardless of market conditions. This means that future retirees should plan ahead and include health care costs in their overall financial plan.

Estimated costs

According to a model Vanguard developed with Mercer Health, even with Medicare, average health care costs can reach over $5,000 per year. In my work with clients, I typically focus on health care planning when an individual or couple is five to 10 years away from planned retirement. This advanced planning can allow someone to develop a thoughtful approach to preparing for – and ultimately paying for – future health care costs.

A few years before retirement, start thinking about the logistics of the retirement timeline. For example, if a person plans to retire at age 62 but will not be eligible for Medicare until age 65, they will need to determine how they will cover their health care expenses for three years. For some, they might consider joining their partner’s health insurance plan (if the partner is not retiring at the same time), going with COBRA, or finding a short-term insurance plan to cover the ‘difference. Alternatively, it could mean tapping into liquid assets or an HSA to pay for healthcare expenses before Medicare coverage kicks in.

Then, map planned expenses from the start and develop a corresponding savings plan to meet future goals. Medicare.gov provides useful information on eligibility and premium estimates. Vanguard also provides personal advisor services to customers, such as a healthcare cost estimator that forecasts healthcare and long-term care expenses.

Assess family history

Health considerations, such as family medical history, longevity expectations, and current health status, are equally important for timing logistics, as these factors can influence your choice of Medicare coverage. Of course, the concept of planning for a potential health scenario can be emotional. However, a forward-looking approach, guided by a financial advisor, can limit the need to make abrupt and difficult decisions in the midst of a health crisis.

A possible additional expense – not covered by Medicare – is the need for long-term care. The peak conditions that often drive the need for long-term care include dementia, stroke, Parkinson’s disease and osteoarthritis. Evaluate family history long before retirement and determine if long-term care might be an expense worth considering.

The need for long-term care can be a financial “wild card” since some clients may not need it during their lifetime. I work with clients to brainstorm hypothetical situations as this can determine appropriate health care goals linked to a financial plan:

  • “Are you planning to move in retirement?” Some locations (like the West Coast and the Northeast) may have higher health care costs.
  • “Will someone take care of you as you get older?” If the answer is yes, it will offset the costs. However, without the support of a spouse or child, it likely means the need for outside resources, which can be costly.
  • “Where will I feel most comfortable as I get older? » It could be the difference between home nursing care, a shared room in a nursing home, or private resources in a more expensive facility.

Don’t forget the financial “compromises”

In addition to assessing family history and calculating potential future health care costs, it is important to understand the financial trade-offs that will come into play over the various decades. For example, many retirees in their 60s see part of their retirement income fund travel or new hobbies. As retirees age and this activity declines, there is a natural trade-off in spending – money that once funded a golf habit can now be directed towards prescription costs. It is important to keep these financial concessions in mind, as retirement income will naturally fluctuate during the different seasons of life.

Health care is only one piece of the retirement planning puzzle. And, as prices continue to rise in this space, making plans years before retirement is key to ensuring long-term financial security.

This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing advisor, not Kiplinger’s editorial staff. You can check advisor records with the SECOND or with FINRA.

Senior Financial Advisor, Vanguard

Julie Virta, CFP®, CFA, CTFA is a Senior Financial Advisor with Vanguard Personal Advisor Services. She specializes in creating personalized investment and financial planning solutions for her clients and is particularly familiar with comprehensive wealth management and estate planning for multi-generational families. A graduate of Boston College, Virta has over 25 years of industry experience and is a member of the CFA Society of Philadelphia and the Boston College Alumni Association.

LDH and the New Orleans Department of Health discuss efforts to protect residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities this hurricane season

Chelsey W. Vogt
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Residents of a nursing home(KAIT)

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) — Even before the worst of the hurricanes lands, electricity is usually one of the first victims of the winds and puts the elderly at risk.

Power outages caused by Hurricane Ida claimed the lives of some seniors. And the Louisiana Department of Health and the City of New Orleans have taken action in hopes of protecting as many residents as possible this hurricane season.

In Ida’s wake, more than 800 nursing home residents were evacuated to a warehouse in Tangipahoa Parish and some people had no idea that their loved ones had been taken there by their respective nursing homes.

“I didn’t know if my mother was dead or alive,” Renetta Derosia said.

The Louisiana Department of Health investigated complaints of inhuman conditions at the warehouse and evacuated residents of the nursing home.

Now the nursing home owner and the seven nursing homes are excluded from participating in federal health care programs.

Kenneth Kraft is with the Office of Inspector General of the US Department of Health and Human Services.

“HHS stands guard. We will do what it takes to protect our programs and our beneficiaries,” Kraft said.

The Louisiana Nursing Home Association says there are about 22,000 people in nursing homes in the state.

Stephen Russo is legal counsel for LDH and also director of legal compliance, audit and regulation for the agency. LDH licenses retirement homes and revoked the licenses of the seven retirement homes that were evacuated to the warehouse.

“Any time you have human suffering and death on the scale that you had at the Waterbury site in Independence, of course what you want to do as a state agency that licenses these entities, c is that you want to learn from it,” Russo said.

He said the LDH had asked for outside help.

“What we did immediately after the Waterbury incident was we hired a consultancy company that looked at our processes and found out where we could make improvements,” Russo said. “We then immediately reconstituted the Care Home Emergency Preparedness Review Committee and brought some of the consultancy firm’s ideas to that committee.”

And the legislation pushes the state legislature to give the LDH the power to approve emergency preparedness plans for nursing homes.

“The thrust of this legislation gives LDH the ability to approve nursing home emergency preparedness plans. What it will also do is that instead of being limited to the 22 parishes in the lower part of the state, it will require nursing homes across the state to file their emergency preparedness plans with from the Department of Health for approval,” Russo said.

State Representative Joe Stagni is the author of HB 933.

“And we wanted redundancy of approval not only from LDH but also from the local emergency preparedness office as well as the state fire marshal,” Stagni said.

Legislation also requires disposal sites to be inspected in advance.

“In order to try to guard against the tragedy that occurred at the Waterbury warehouse for any nursing home that has an evacuation site, either a primary site or a non-provider type secondary site approved, the department will come out at least twice and inspect that site,” Russo said.

That aside, Russo said the state health department has already begun inspections of unlicensed evacuation sites provided to LDH by nursing homes in the 22 lower parishes.

“They have longstanding relationships with maybe schools, maybe churches, maybe other places like that, that aren’t approved by the department, but that doesn’t necessarily mean either that they are not safe places for individuals to evacuate to for a short period of time,” Russo said.

And he said they would also review shelter-in-place plans.

“If they have proper power and supply,” Russo said.

Ida has also had an impact on assisted living facilities and senior housing complexes.

Dr. Jennifer Avegno is director of the New Orleans Department of Health.

“They don’t have the same kind of responsibilities to their residents, however, these are residents that we found, when you’re without power for a few days, these are the ones who are very, very vulnerable to the effects of heat and so unfortunately we, although we identified a lot of inhabitants and were able to help them, some died because they did not leave, they did not have the resources and their buildings really became uninhabitable quickly” , said Avegno.

Avegno says the city took action ahead of this hurricane season.

“So there’s now an order on the books from the fall that says, if you’re in an apartment building, living independently again but that building has a significant number of elderly residents, they receive federal funds to support low-income people. seniors or permanent housing support who, that management must have a plan. They need to know who’s in the building, they need to know who needs special equipment, so in the event of a power outage, who might be at high risk because they can’t run their oxygen machine or their electric wheelchair. They must also provide the name and contact details of a person who will be staying at the premises. It was a big deal,” she said.

Avegno says its department with facilities.

“We worked, the Department of Health, the Department of Homeland Security worked with all of these facilities to help them. It’s not designed to be punitive,” Avegno said.

FOX 8 asked Russo if assisted living facilities are state-licensed.

“Yes ma’am they are and they also have emergency preparedness plans, assisted living although the residents are not as frail as nursing home residents so a lot of these people have their own transportation to evacuate or what we find is a lot of times they will evacuate with immediate family members,” he said.

He and Avegno are urging everyone to prepare now for hurricane season.

“Be an advocate for your loved ones. Nursing homes are required by rule and regulation to let you know where they plan to evacuate, so you should inquire about this. You need to make sure your contact details are up to date with these nursing homes,” Russo said.

“Certainly our message is always to have a plan and to include the most vulnerable members of the family in that plan,” Avegno said. “Make sure your loved ones have at least 30 days of medication.”

FOX asked Russo if the LDH is ready to evacuate nursing home residents this hurricane season.

“Yes absolutely. As part of the site visit to unlicensed sites, one of the officers and team members here at the department is already looking at potential staging areas, potential triage areas,” Russo said.

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Proposed federal law would give older Ohios more health care choices: Joseph Russell

Chelsey W. Vogt
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COLUMBUS, Ohio — The trauma of the past two years during the pandemic has reminded us to be cautious. This is especially true for older people and their families.

As the COVID-19 situation in Ohio appears to have finally come to a head, older adults still remain at higher risk for chronic diseases, illnesses, and injuries. This is especially true for older people who have been hospitalized. As we return to more normality, it will be essential to respect the wishes of older people and give them more health options.

Home health care is a safe, effective, and preferred care setting available to Medicare patients after discharge from hospital for chronic or acute illnesses and injuries. In cases where an older adult requires ongoing care after being hospitalized, research has found that they are more comfortable, independent, and safe in their home environment. Survey data also shows that 94% of Medicare beneficiaries prefer to recover safely at home if you are given the option.

While home care is an option for some Ohio seniors, that’s not true for all, especially seniors who have limited support at home. This underscores the need to improve home care services for this unique patient population.

To fill this gap, help modernize America’s post-acute care system and create more options for seniors, a bipartisan group of lawmakers in Congress introduced a bill to expand home health care for the elderly as an alternative to skilled nursing facilities, if clinically appropriate for the patient. If enacted, the Choose the Home Care Act (S. 2562/HR 5514), will provide more Medicare patients with the ability to receive expanded home health services after hospitalization. Choose Home will also allow eligible Medicare beneficiaries to receive extended patient care services such as skilled nursing care, personal practical care, physical therapy, medical social services and medical supplies.

This program also enjoys strong support, as it is well recognized that home-based health care can improve the quality of life and overall well-being of recipients and their families. Many stakeholders — from patient advocates to clinicians to providers — have expressed support for this bill and are urging Congress to move quickly to pass it.

Not only will Choose Home help patients and caregivers, it will also help taxpayers. According to the Ohio Association of Area Agencies on Aging, the average monthly cost of home health care services is approximately five times lower than the average cost of nursing home care. An independent research firm estimated that the Choose Home program could generate annual Medicare savings of $121 million to $222 million, which would translate to up to $4.8 billion in savings over 10 years at the national level, assuming an increased participation rate of 50% by the fifth year. Savings like this will help extend the solvency and sustainability of the Medicare program.

Joseph Russell is executive director of the Ohio Council for Home Care & Hospice in Columbus.

It is time to prioritize and diversify the delivery of care within our health care system. As the number of older people continues to grow, from 2.6 million to 3.37 million projected in Ohio by 2030it is essential to modernize the Medicare program to meet the needs of patients, while allowing them to choose their preferred setting for receiving health care.

Fortunately, congressional lawmakers have recognized this urgent need. I salute the Washington lawmakers who supported expanding access to home health care and approved the Choose Home Care Act, including U.S. Representative Troy Balderson, a Republican from Zanesville.

It’s important to Ohio voters ask their legislators to co-sponsor this bill so that elderly patients and their families have more options for the care that best suits their personal needs. Please join me in urging our entire Ccongressional delegation to co-sponsor this bipartisan, pro-senior Medicare legislation.

Joseph Russell is the executive director of the Ohio Board for Home Care and Palliative Care.

Do you have anything to say on this subject?

* Send a letter to the editor, which will be considered for print publication.

* Email general questions about our Editorial Board or comments or corrections to this opinion column to Elizabeth Sullivan, Chief Opinion Officer, at esullivan@cleveland.com.

Restrictions Imposed in Nursing Facilities

Chelsey W. Vogt
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LOS ANGELES (CNS) – As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise, hospitals in Los Angeles County may soon be overwhelmed with patients, the county’s chief health officer said Thursday, noting that the increase in epidemics in skilled nursing institutions has already caused a stricter infection. – control measures.

What do you want to know

  • The tightening of the rules comes as the county continues to see increases in cases

  • Another 6,245 COVID infections were reported in LA County on Thursday, one of the highest single-day numbers in weeks

  • The county’s seven-day cumulative rate of new cases is now 280 per 100,000 people, up from 246 a week ago

  • State figures Thursday showed 429 COVID-positive patients were being treated at county hospitals, up from 410 on Wednesday.

With 21 COVID outbreaks in skilled nursing facilities recently recorded across the county, staff at these facilities are now required to wear N95-level masks at all times and undergo testing twice a week, while residents must undergo weekly tests. All communal meals have also been halted, county public health director Barbara Ferrer said.

All non-essential indoor group activities are also suspended, she said.

The tightening of the rules comes as the county continues to see increases in cases. As of Thursday, another 6,245 COVID infections were reported in the county. Over the past seven days, the county has averaged more than 4,200 new infections per day, and the rate of people testing positive for the virus daily has risen to 4.1% from 3.8% the previous day.

The county’s seven-day cumulative new case rate is now 280 per 100,000 people, up from 246 a week ago. The rate keeps the county firmly in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “medium” virus activity category.

At this time, the county’s COVID-related hospital statistics are still low enough to prevent the county from moving to the CDC’s “high” activity category. Being moved to “high” would mean a return to the compulsory wearing of the mask indoors.

According to CDC guidelines, counties in the “medium” category will move to “high” if the rate of new virus-related hospital admissions reaches 10 per 100,000 people, or if 10% of hospital beds are staffed with County staff are busy with COVID-positive patients.

Ferrer said the current rate of virus-related hospital admissions in the county is now 4.5 per 100,000 — double the rate from a month ago — and the rate of staffed beds in staff occupied by COVID patients is currently 2.3%.

Although these numbers are well below the “high” category level, Ferrer noted that “if we continue on the current trajectory, we could find cases and hospitalizations that would end up stressing our hospital system in just a few weeks. “.

State figures Thursday showed 429 COVID-positive patients were being treated at county hospitals, down from 410 on Wednesday. The number of those patients treated in intensive care was 55, up slightly from 52 a day earlier.

Although health officials noted that many COVID-positive patients had been admitted to hospitals for reasons other than the virus, Ferrer said they still needed advanced levels of care that put medical centers at risk. tough test.

“They require a lot of different resources that are of a higher intensity, so that inherently puts more pressure on the system,” she said.

She added: “Unless we interrupt this increase in transmission, it will have an impact on the health system. The more cases you have… the greater the strain on the healthcare system.

Ferrer also noted that more infectious strains of the virus continue to proliferate. In the last round of specialized testing to identify variants, 36.4% of the cases tested were the result of a subvariant known as BA.2.12.1. This subvariant is considered exponentially more transmissible than its parent variant, BA.2, and significantly more transmissible than the omicron variant that triggered a winter spike in cases.

Another variant, BA.2.3, is also slowly emerging in the county, accounting for 7.6% of cases tested in the most recent sampling.

Ferrer said current vaccines still prove effective against all variants — not necessarily preventing infections but generally leading to less severe disease in those who are infected.

Ferrer reported nine more COVID-related deaths on Thursday. She said the county now has a seven-day average of about seven deaths per day. The new deaths gave the county an overall death toll from the virus of 32,109.

The 6,245 new infections brought the county’s cumulative total from throughout the pandemic to 2,955,954.

Even after the murder, Homestead puts nursing home residents at risk

Chelsey W. Vogt
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Even after a resident was raped and murdered earlier this year, inadequate staff and poor care continued to put residents at risk at Homestead Healthcare Center, according to a recently released health inspection report.

Failures in the weeks following the murder sent at least two of the nursing home residents to the emergency room with life-threatening conditions. Others languished in urine-soaked beds and soiled bandages. A resident lost more than 40 pounds after the facility failed to provide nutritional supplements as recommended, inspectors found.

In total, the Indiana Department of Health cited Homestead for 20 violations of federal and state regulations during a mid-March inspection. The quotes show that even amid scrutiny following the murder, deeply concerning issues persist at the troubled Indianapolis facility.

Negligent: Nursing home residents suffer as county hospitals rake in millions

The family speaks: She was raped and suffocated at the Indianapolis nursing home

Many of the issues found by inspectors are similar to those identified in an IndyStar investigation into the nursing home’s troubled history. Reporters found that understaffing, rampant drug abuse, mishandling of medications and substandard care had plagued the facility long before the death of 80-year-old resident Patricia Newnum on February 2.

Police say a nursing assistant found another resident, Dwayne Freeman, 60, above Newnum with a pillow over his face and a bottle of liquor nearby. Freeman faces charges of rape and murder.

Freeman threatened at least two other female residents with sexual assault or violence shortly before the murder, but Homestead failed to take action to protect its vulnerable residents, according to a state health inspection conducted in the days that followed. immediately followed the homicide.

Court case: Conditions in care homes made rape and murder of woman ‘inevitable’

The new 76-page inspection report shows that problems continue to abound in Homestead.

Dangerous conditions persist

Facility failures sent at least two residents to the emergency room with life-threatening conditions, according to the report.

In one case, Homestead failed to take care of a resident’s urinary catheter, resulting in a urinary tract infection. The resident had a fever, became confused and agitated and asked to go to the hospital.

A nurse practitioner wrote an order to send the resident to the emergency room, but Homestead did not follow the order.

Two days later, the resident was found unconscious and taken to hospital with sepsis and respiratory failure. A discharge summary from the hospital indicated “comfort measures only” and that “resident’s breathing has ceased”.

In another case, a hypoglycemic resident began having seizures, but could not be treated because Homestead did not ensure that drugs to reverse the hypoglycemia were available, the report said.

Instead, the facility had to call 911. By the time an ambulance arrived, the resident’s blood sugar had dropped to 36 – an extremely low and dangerous level.

Inspectors found another Homestead resident had lost more than 40 pounds in 6 weeks when the facility failed to give the resident nutritional supplements recommended by a dietitian.

Another resident fell and fractured his neck. Inspectors cited Homestead for failing to report the incident to state health officials.

Homestead has pledged to correct deficiencies identified in the inspection report, but it is asking state regulators to reduce the scope and severity of the most serious citations in the report, which found the facility was putting the health and safety of residents in “immediate peril”. or caused “actual harm”.

A spokesperson for Cincinnati-based CommuniCare, the company that operates Homestead, did not respond to questions from IndyStar about the report. The head of Adams County Memorial Hospital, which owns Homestead, also declined to answer questions.

Basic needs are not met

Inspectors also found that Homestead had failed to meet residents’ basic needs.

Residents with soiled bandages told inspectors they sometimes went days without being changed. A resident has not received wound treatment prescribed by a doctor for more than three weeks.

In one case, inspectors noticed a “strong smell of urine” coming from a resident’s bedroom. They found “a large wet brownish colored area” that covered a third of the bed and had “soaked through the blanket, fitted sheet and mattress”. The bed remained dirty for four hours.

Two days later, inspectors found the same resident again lying in his own urine for at least two hours. The resident’s pillow “was resting on the brownish-yellow tinted bottom sheet,” the report said.

Repeat violations

The problems at Homestead are not new. Some of the infractions found by inspectors are similar to those identified during previous inspections.

For example, inspectors cited Homestead for failing to properly care for an IV in a resident’s arm. It’s especially alarming because the facility was cited and fined more than $87,000 last year after a resident’s IV went unattended for eight days, leaving him led to septic shock and death.

The new inspection report also shows that Homestead continues to improperly store and manage drugs. Loose pills were found strewn about in medicine carts. Some drugs and supplies were outdated. Opioids were checked, but never marked as administered.

Inspectors found similar issues in August when they cited Homestead for leaving a medicine cart “unlocked with no personnel in sight”.

Repeated medication failures are concerning as drug addiction is rampant in Homestead. Police have conducted several narcotics investigations at the facility since the beginning of last year. The problem got so bad that overdose medication was issued to residents. Two nurses have been arrested for stealing opioids from residents.

More than two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, inspectors also cited Homestead for failing to implement infection control measures. They were cited for the same last year in May.

Insufficient staff identified

Inspectors linked many of the facility’s problems to low staffing levels.

The finding comes after an IndyStar analysis of federal data showed Homestead has some of the lowest total nursing staff hours in America.

IndyStar also found that state health inspectors have not cited Homestead in the past, even though the facility has repeatedly violated a requirement that nursing homes employ at least one registered nurse for eight years. hours per day. In fact, the state allowed Homestead to expand capacity in January.

This time, however, inspectors cited the establishment for violating this requirement on 9 of the 28 days examined.

Homestead also failed to meet its own staffing recommendations.

An assessment of the facility’s facilities in 2021 identified a need for 3 or 4 nurses for day and evening shifts, and 2 nurses for night shifts, the report said. Inspectors reviewed two weeks of nursing schedules and found that the facility had never met this standard. For seven days, there was only one nurse per shift.

Lack of sufficient nursing staff resulted in surgical dressing changes not being made, care not being provided for a feeding tube, intravenous dressings not being changed, that medication was left in a resident’s room, that a resident was given unnecessary medication, that there was no urinary catheter care and nutritional supplements are not being provided, the report says .

What else can we do?

On Tuesday, IndyStar asked the Indiana Department of Health and the US Department of Health and Human Services what actions they plan to take in response to the new inspection report.

Federal officials did not provide a response Wednesday afternoon, and state officials did not discuss specifics.

“The Indiana Department of Health is working within its authority to address issues in long-term care facilities, but cannot comment further while enforcement actions are pending,” said Jeni O’Malley, Deputy Chief of Staff at IDOH.

Regulators have the power to fine nursing homes and withhold payments for new admissions, but these tools have so far failed to deter trouble. Federal data shows Homestead has been fined nearly $300,000 since the start of 2021 and federal payments have been suspended twice.

More severe enforcement measures are available.

State health officials can place a nursing home’s license on probation or revoke it altogether. The state has placed at least nine nursing homes on probation since 2010, but closed only one during that time.

Federal officials can impose a temporary manager or terminate a facility’s agreement to provide Medicare and Medicaid services. The latter would have the effect of closing the installation.

So far, state and federal authorities have resisted calls for these more drastic enforcement actions.

O’Malley said the state generally follows a “phased” action plan to “hold vendors accountable and provide an opportunity to return to compliance and remain in compliance.”

Closing a nursing home is usually an option of last resort due to the risks associated with transferring vulnerable residents to a new facility. Homestead had 75 residents at the time of its last inspection.

At some point, the question becomes who poses the greater danger: closing a facility or letting its residents stay?

Contact IndyStar reporter Tony Cook at 317-444-6081 or tony.cook@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @IndyStarTony.

Effects of Developing Scenario-Based Learning in a Basic Nursing Course: A Pilot Study | BMC medical training

Chelsey W. Vogt
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study design

This pilot study used a one-group pre-test-post-test design to investigate the effects of DSL on team effectiveness, systems thinking, and proactivity in problem solving among nursing students. second year.

Speakers

Fifty-three second-year nursing students signed an informed consent form to participate in the study. The sample size was determined using the G*power 3.1.2 program. For the difference from the constant (one sample case) with an effect size of 0.5, a significance level of 0.05, and a power of 0.90, the minimum sample size a was calculated to be 44. The sample size was determined to be 53, considering a 20% dropout rate. Students who completed the 15-week Foundational Nursing Course from March 4 to June 17, 2021 completed the study questionnaire. There are no incomplete questionnaires; all data from 53 students were included in the final analysis.

Study procedure

Development of the DSL-based nursing education program

To develop the basic nursing education program based on the DSL, the course syllabus and lesson flow chart were prepared. Thus, the five phases of the DSL model were applied, underpinned by the theoretical basis of basic clinical nursing skills and the objectives of the foundational nursing course (Table 1). The DSL model consists of five phases: phase 1 — presentation of the overall learning experience – sharing of pre-learning; phase 2 – component preparation – fishbone – problem identification, in which students reflect on the scenario through discussion; phase 3 – development of a screenplay – lines of writing, during which the pupils develop a draft screenplay; phase 4 – finalizing the script – applying the context, investigating the theoretical evidence and finalizing the storyboard, during which the students came to a consensus on the final script; and, phase 5 – re-finalization of the scenario – reformulation based on the discussion, during which the students examined and reflected on the interpretations of the initial scenario [9]. The program has been designed as a 15-week, 2-credit (2-hour) course in accordance with the School of Studies curriculum. The program was developed by a panel consisting of three faculty with over 10 years of clinical nursing experience and 3 years of teaching experience in the foundational nursing course and three staff assistants with over 5 years of experience. clinical nursing experience.

Table 1 Procedure and content of developing a basic nursing education program based on scenario learning

At the stage of content development, four basic nursing skills (intermittent feeding by gastric tube, intradermal injection, subcutaneous injection and intramuscular injection) were selected from 20 basic nursing skills presented by KABONE, taking into account the student needs rate. The corresponding basic nursing skills assessment protocol was used. In addition, online video lectures were recorded and templates were prepared for the analysis of therapeutic communication and the development report of skills-based scenarios for the program.

Implementation of the DSL-based nursing education program

Of the total 15 weeks of foundational nursing courses, 3 weeks of orientation were conducted. After 4 weeks of courses by domains, learning activities were carried out to develop scenarios through phases 1 to 4 for 4 weeks. The participants were divided into five teams, and each team consisted of seven to eight people. During the 13th week, a video was made during a role play with the final scenario. In week 14, the instructor provided feedback using the Learning Objectives and Scenarios Assessment Tool through a presentation, and Phase 4 Learning Activities and 5 have been completed. The topic of the DSL-based nursing education program developed by each team is shown in Table 2. An example of the finalized scenario developed is shown in Table 3.

Table 2 Theme of the learning-based nursing education program development scenario developed by each team
Table 3 Example of scenario content developed by developing scenario learning

In this study, phase 1 of the DSL involved the sharing of initial learning experiences within the teams. The students viewed the video lectures, pre-read the studies related to basic nursing skills, and shared their understanding and interpretation of the learning material with their team during the course. In Phase 2, students developed a draft of their script through discussion. They have chosen a core nursing competency and defined their skill-based learning goals and events that may occur while administering the competency accordingly. They used a fishbone diagram to provide diversity and clarity of nursing issues that may arise when performing the skill. Phase 3 consisted of students developing the script project. They experimented with developing various scenarios by writing several possible cases of conversation scripts and analyses, integrating each event with the identified nursing problems, discussing them continuously with the team and looking for theoretical evidence. During phase 4, the students came to a consensus on the development of the scenario. They developed a scenario storyboard using the script chosen by the team members and reflecting the contextual characteristics of the patients involved. In phase 5, the students reviewed the interpretations of the initial scenario. They assigned themselves roles based on their team’s storyboard and acted out the role play. They filmed their role play for presentation and discussion during class. Additionally, they wrote a reflective journal to share and reflect on their experiences while developing scenarios.

Instruments

Team efficiency

The authors used the eight items of the team effectiveness subscale used in the Marshall and Lori study [23] and modified and validated by Kwon [24]; these were rated on a five-point Likert scale. The total score ranges from 8 to 40, and a higher score indicates greater team efficiency. The reliability of the tool was Cronbach’s α = 0.96 in Kwon’s study [24] and 0.88 and 0.95 before and after the intervention, respectively, in this study.

Systems thinking

The tool developed by Lee et al. [25] has been used. This 20-item tool includes five domains, with four items each for systems thinking, personal competence, mental model, shared vision, and team learning. Each item is rated on a five-point Likert scale. The total score ranges from 20 to 100, and a higher score indicates greater systems thinking. The reliability of the tool was Cronbach’s α = 0.83 at the time of tool development and 0.81 and 0.86 before and after the intervention, respectively, in this study.

Proactivity in problem solving

From the five-factor scale for team skills developed by Marshall and Lori [23]the authors used the eight adaptive factor items adapted by Kwon [24]. Each item is rated on a five-point Likert scale. The total score ranges from 8 to 40, and a higher score indicates greater proactivity in problem solving. The reliability of the tool was Cronbach’s α = 0.77 in Kwon’s study [24] and 0.77 and 0.92 before and after the intervention, respectively, in this study.

Data analysis

Data collected was analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 22.0 (SPSS New York, USA). The demographic characteristics of the participants were analyzed with the actual number and the percentage of mean and standard deviation. Additionally, changes in team effectiveness, systems thinking, and proactivity in problem solving after implementation of the DSL nursing education program were analyzed with paired t-tests. To investigate effect sizes (Cohen’s d), the authors calculated the mean difference in outcomes between pre- and post-intervention.

MCC Healthcare Graduates Urged to Live “With Enthusiasm, Integrity and Reflection”

Chelsey W. Vogt
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LOWELL – More than 170 graduates of Middlesex Community College’s health program turned the tassel to commemorate the completion of their associated degrees and certificates at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium on Monday morning.

Students who studied dental assisting and hygiene, health care administration, diagnostic medical sonography, radiological technology and nursing, among others, walked across the stage to receive their diplomas and recite their health oaths before entering the next stage of their lives.

The ceremony was one of three MCC events this week honoring the class of 2022. Graduates in business, legal studies, public service and STEM will graduate on Wednesday, while those in education programs and liberal arts will attend their debut on Thursday. In total, nearly 850 MCC students from 65 countries graduated this year.

MCC President Phil Sisson presided over the ceremony, his first time since his appointment in July. Sisson passed on the same words of wisdom to this year’s graduates that he sent to his own sons and daughters when they graduated: “Live your life with the enthusiasm, integrity and thoughtfulness necessary for a full and happy life, whatever you do. »

“All of you who graduate will be medical professionals in a field that desperately needs you,” Sisson said. “I personally call on you to work as a strong advocate for public higher education, especially community college education, so that generations of those who follow can have the same opportunities and benefits as you.”

Naiska Cheung, a 2012 MCC graduate with an Associate of Science in Radiological Technology, delivered the commencement address 10 years after accepting her degree. Over the past decade, Cheung earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and she now works as a medical associate and helps people struggling with drug addiction.

Cheung’s success story started with many challenges, however, from when she got pregnant at 15, dropped out of high school, and had to raise her daughter as a single mother. None of her family, originally from Puerto Rico, had completed high school, and her own path to higher education was made even more difficult when she became homeless.

A lot has changed since then. Cheung’s daughter is now 17 and sat in the front row watching her mother deliver her speech at the start. Cheung singled her out, calling her “my biggest cheerleader and motivator.”

Now, after earning her master’s degree in medical science from Yale University in 2019, Cheung told the graduating class that she had a choice: enter the workforce, continue her education, or “do both.” She credits MCC for creating an inclusive and supportive environment that has helped her succeed.

“(MCC) fostered an environment that fostered learning not only for traditional students, but also for non-traditional students like myself, and it allowed me to re-build enough confidence in a classroom to that I look forward to an education beyond MCC,” Cheung mentioned. “Whatever you decide, be sure to show the world that healthcare graduates from Middlesex Community College are rock stars.”

Cheung also stressed the importance of choosing a career path “that inspires you” and overcoming any personal obstacles students may set for themselves. At the end of her speech, she received the college’s Distinguished Alumni Award.

Student speaker Kalika Aun, from Lowell, shared similar hurdles to Cheung, being the first in her family to graduate from college. Aun received a certificate in dental assisting and graduated with top honors this year, and said she chose MCC because it’s affordable.

Although she attended a two-year college instead of a traditional four-year college, Aun said she and her peers are still doing well and “making themselves better than we were yesterday.” Aun said she was proud of herself and her fellow health programs for committing to the healthcare industry.

“I remember my mom telling me that money doesn’t matter when it comes to a job, you want to be able to love what you do and have a sense of purpose and never get bored. of what you are doing,” Aun said. “It’s an honor to be a healthcare worker. I finally have a purpose and meaning in my life, and that is to care for the public and give them all the satisfaction they seek in the health profession. We’re the future of healthcare, so let’s be the best of the best and show the public what we’ve learned.

Mayor Sokhary Chau also delivered remarks at the ceremony, congratulating the graduates for graduating through turbulent and historic times, as well as through work, family life and busy personal lives. Catherine Donato, a 2022 nursing graduate, sang the national anthem to thunderous cheers and applause.

Stupi Manandhar, of Arlington, said she wasn’t sure what led her to study ultrasound, but she’s glad she did. Manandhar graduated with top honors, but it was not without a struggle – she went to school while her husband cared for their young daughter.

After the start, Manandhar’s daughter Meeya, now 4, held flowers as they took photos together.

“She was 2 years old so it was very difficult for everyone,” Manandhar said of her time as a student. “It feels good (to graduate).”

Nicole Plante, of Middleboro, also earned her associate’s degree in diagnostic medical sonography. After spending two years in the classroom — and sometimes outside, due to the pandemic — Plante said she feels ready to enter the workforce and put her degree to good use.

“I’m ready to work and excited to make money and have a career,” Plante said.

Burton Queen’s Hospital Nursing Course Abandoned

Chelsey W. Vogt
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University bosses have dropped their student training course at Burton’s Queen’s Hospital for reasons including falling numbers, it has been revealed. The number of nurses, midwives and pediatric nurses taking its course has plummeted in recent years, leading University of Wolverhampton bosses to suspend recruitment of its next batch of students who will s would normally train at a Burton Health Education Center facility at the hospital, Belvedere Road, Burton.

The news does not affect its current first and second year students on the course, but any prospective applicants are expected to travel to the university’s campuses in Walsall, Telford or Wolverhampton in the future to complete the course.

Burton health bosses said the university’s decision did not affect internships offered by the hospital, a spokeswoman said. It comes as the university announced it was suspending student recruitment for this month of September to 138 undergraduate and postgraduate courses it offers due to rising costs caused by the pandemic, d reduced recruitment and overseas travel difficulties affecting international students during the pandemic.

TOP STORY: Top GP Surgeries in Burton Area Rated by CQC

Dr Sharon Arkell, Associate Dean and Director of the University’s School of Nursing, said: “The University of Wolverhampton is committed to ensuring an excellent student experience and this will always be at the heart of everything we do. do.

“We have made the decision to suspend recruitment of new students to the Burton Health Education Center at Burton Hospital, but will be teaching our existing students, currently in Years 1 and 2 of their coursework. The decision was made due to the declining student experience at Burton, as students do not have the full range of university facilities such as a library, student health and welfare, and labs. cutting-edge skills that we have on our other campuses. It is also in response to student feedback on the experience and a reduction in recruitment in recent years.

“We are in discussions with Derby University Hospitals and Burton NHS Foundation Trust [which runs Queen’s Hospital in the town] about the end of teaching at our Burton facility. However, we will continue to provide investment opportunities to the Trust in the future.

The university has approximately 30 students due to complete this year, of which approximately 75 will be taught from Burton over the next two years. The plan is for existing Years 1 and 2 students to continue to be taught at Burton for the next two years.

Gill Ogden, Director of Nursing at the Hospital Trust, said: “We are working closely with the University of Wolverhampton to provide clinical placements at Queen’s Hospital Burton for nursing, midwifery and pediatric students. The university has a training center located near the Queen’s Hospital Burton, their decision to move it has no impact on the internships we offer.

The university’s acting vice-chancellor, Professor Ian Campbell, recently announced that he would be suspending 138 of its courses, saying: “The higher education sector as a whole faces a number of significant challenges. . At the same time, as with many similar universities, our enrollment has declined, leading to a loss of income, compounded by the challenges of overseas travel which has impacted international students during the pandemic.

“The reduction in student income, combined with the increase in salary and non-salary costs, including pension costs, as well as the impact of the pandemic, means that the university faces a very difficult financial landscape and to a significant deficit in the current fiscal year.”

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The ‘biggest nursing home bill in decades’ nears passage in California

Chelsey W. Vogt
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According to supporters of Assembly Bill 1502, a number of California nursing home operators run their facilities without the proper licenses, and their unregulated practices significantly compromise patient care. The California Department of Public Health (CDPH), according to the bill, allows this to continue through lax oversight practices.

The bill seeks to address these issues by requiring owners and operators of state nursing homes to be licensed by the CDPH.—which includes being controlled by the department—before acquiring the facilities.

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“Now that may seem obvious,” said the sponsor of the Asm bill. Al Muratsuchi (D – Los Angeles) at the Assembly Health Committee in January. “Some of you may be wondering, ‘Isn’t it [licensure] has it ever happened?’ Well, it’s not. And I want to make sure that everyone on this committee understands that there are currently nursing homes that are operating without a license, and we need to fix that.

AB 1502 was first introduced in February 2021. It passed the Assembly with a vote of 55 to 15 in January of this year. He is now awaiting Senate committee hearings.

The legislation also requires the CDPH to post all license applications online, which will be subject to public comment before approval. The ministry must make a decision on applications within 120 days of submission. Another key element of the bill, according to Muratsuchi, is its ban on the use of interim management agreements, which he says allow facilities to “bypass even the most basic licensing requirements.”

The CDPH’s Licensing and Certification (L&C) branch carries out inspections of nursing facilities to ensure they meet quality standards, but supporters of the legislation say this oversight is not adequate. The Assembly’s analysis of the bill states, “L&C has demonstrated a consistently poor record of investigating complaints from health care facilities of resident abuse and neglect in a timely manner.”

Recent reports by CalMatters says some state nursing homes have begun filing a number of lawsuits against the CDPH after the department levied various fines on facilities it found had inadequate health standards. The facilities are filing these lawsuits to challenge a host of allegations against them, including the presence of maggots and sexual abuse of patients.

Tony Chicotel, senior counsel for the California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, called the legislation “the most significant nursing home bill in decades” during his testimony before the committee.

“A growing number of retirement homes are run by squatters,” Chicotel said. “These are undeclared, unchecked and unlicensed operators… The system allows anyone to take over a care home, apply for a license whenever they feel like moving there and provide care to thousands of vulnerable residents while state approval is pending. , or even worse, after their request was rejected.

Chicotel added that facilities run by “squatters” tend to provide care to more communities of color and lower-income people, and have had some of the worst rates of COVID-19 cases in the state.

The California Association of Healthcare Facilities (CAHF), which represents the majority of skilled nursing facilities in the state, opposes the bill unless it is amended. While they agree that the current licensing process is inadequate and needs to be changed, the association believes the responsibility should lie with the state, not nursing facilities. “Nursing facilities did not create this process backwards,” reads the organization’s opposition in the bill’s analysis.

CAHF argues that the strict disqualification provisions of AB 1502 would deter most if not all applicants for ownership of qualified nursing facilities.

San Diego County supervisors eye $2.76 billion budget for health care and human services

Chelsey W. Vogt
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SAN DIEGO-

San Diego County supervisors are considering a $2.76 billion health, homelessness and social services spending plan that would add new behavioral health services, fund homeless shelters and expand social services. affordable housing.

Spending by the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency makes up the largest portion of the county’s proposed $7.15 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year that begins July 1.

The agency would see a slight drop in spending over the next year, with a 1.1% drop from $2.84 billion to $2.76 billion, due to the elimination of one-time related expenses. to COVID-19, according to budget figures presented by the Director of Health and Social Services. Nick Machione.

Programs that would see funding cuts from last year include public health services, housing and community development services, and aging and independent living services, as well as administrative support.

Although housing and community development would see a cut in funding, much of that comes from the expiration of COVID-19 housing assistance and the completion of housing projects this year, the budget plan says. Next year’s budget will add new investments to increase affordable housing and reduce homelessness, council chair Nathan Fletcher said.

“In this year’s budget, we are doing more than ever to address homelessness, including $10 million to help our 18 incorporated cities open new shelters,” Fletcher said in a video about the budget proposal. . “Next year, the county will open eight affordable housing developments, a record for any year in the county’s history, which means more than 1,000 people will have access to affordable housing.”

The county is also adding funds and staff to departments providing behavioral health care, medical services, child protective services, public assistance programs and homelessness, officials said.

“Even though there is a decrease in the budget for the Health and Human Services Agency to reduce one-time costs of the pandemic, the county continues to make long-term investments in mental health, support for addiction, essential food and health services, and efforts to reduce homelessness and increase affordable housing,” said Chief Financial Officer Ebony Shelton.

Under the proposed spending plan, behavioral health services, which include mental health care and addiction treatment, would increase from about $818 million to $889 million. It would also add 94 staff.

The ministry plans to expand services to people who often don’t have access to care, including children and youth, the homeless and those in the criminal justice system, officials said. It will add programs for LGBTQ youth and introduce mental health screening for middle school students, and expand the network of Mobile Crisis Response Teams, which send mental health professionals to nonviolent emergencies, a said director Luke Bergman.

Under the department’s new budget, mental health services would increase from about $495 million to nearly $554 million. Funding for inpatient mental health care and alcohol and drug services would also increase.

The proposed budget for the Department of Public Health Services would be cut by more than 40%, from $378 million to $216 million, according to Macchione. This is due to the elimination of one-time pandemic-related expenses and the transfer of certain positions and functions to the new Department of Medical Care Services.

However, it added 71 new positions for services such as maternal, child and family health, HIV and STD prevention and disease surveillance programs, Director Elizabeth Hernandez said.

The county’s programs for food assistance, health insurance and cash assistance would see spending rise from about $612 million to $629 million and add 119 new employees. Child Protective Services would grow from $416 million to $431 million and hire 99 staff. Homeless Solutions and Equitable Communities would go from $48 million to $52.8 million.

Medical Care Services, which was previously under Public Health, was designated as a separate department to oversee nursing and pharmacy operations, Medi-Cal programs, and health care within the criminal justice system. According to the proposed budget, the newly formed department would have a budget of $41.6 million and 222 staff members.

While overall health and human services agency spending is expected to decline as various pandemic programs are reduced or eliminated, some elements of pandemic health care will be enacted over the long term, Macchione said.

The successes of community health workers, or promotoras, in promoting testing and vaccination have led health authorities to continue this work through permanent posts, he said.

“Building on best practices from the COVID-19 response with our community engagement using promotoras, we are adding 12 newly created Community Health Worker positions to provide support to a variety of education services neighborhood-based sanitation and health promotion.” he said.

Belknap County retirement home anticipates shortfall

Chelsey W. Vogt
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By Thomas P. Caldwell, InDepthNH.org

LACONIA — The Belknap County Commission anticipates needing additional appropriation from the county delegation to cover a projected budget shortfall for nursing homes.

When the delegation approved the care home budget in January, members anticipated that they would have to revisit the issue later in the year, after receiving more information on the progress of the county’s hiring efforts. .

Due in part to the pandemic and resistance to vaccination mandates, the nursing home was experiencing staff departures who remained unoccupied, and the number of residents fluctuated between 60 and 70 percent of full occupancy.

As a result, the county delegation reduced the commissioners’ proposed budget from $13,452,140 to $12,076,103, pending a better understanding of the situation after a few months.

The delegation also refused to fund a pay rise that had been put in place to attract and retain nurses. While the commission maintains that the delegation approved the increase, the delegation’s executive committee said at the time that it was never asked to approve the increases and that a salary study that had been authorized n had not been completed.

On May 19, County Administrator Debra Shackett said projections put the nursing home budget at $12,239,263 by the end of the year, $142,688 above budget.

She said that as it stands, salaries for full-time nurses will reach $3 million by the end of the year, assuming vacancies are not filled next month. With a budget of $2,750,000 for full-time salaries, this would represent a shortfall of $250,000 in this category. Underspending on part-time salaries will cover some of that, she said.

“If those [full-time] positions are filled and start in a month, we’re actually going to be spending closer to $3.2 million, so that $3 million figure assumes we’ll continue to have vacancies, much to everyone’s dismay,” Shacklet said. “So that’s a real concern.”

Filling vacancies would also increase health insurance costs, she noted, but the effect on the budget would be difficult to predict as it would depend on the health plan taken out by employees.

“Health insurance…could go up or down dramatically, quickly,” she told the commission.

Belknap County Commission Vice Chairman Glen Waring suggested they approach the county delegation about possibly needing additional credit for the retirement home.

“I think the sooner we start that conversation and bring them into that conversation, the better,” Waring said.

The next generation of healthcare workers graduate at the start of TCNJ (PHOTOS)

Chelsey W. Vogt
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Noelle Carpenter, from Florence, a conscientious sophomore nursing student, was finally getting some real-world experience doing ‘clinics’ at St. Mary’s Hospital in Langhorne, Pennsylvania in 2020.

That’s when an email came in from his school, the College of New Jersey, saying they would be closing for the week after spring break due to an outbreak of something called a novel coronavirus.

“So we would have been done for two weeks, but then we were supposed to come back,” she recalls.

The ensuing COVID pandemic, which has now claimed the lives of 1 million people in the United States alone, has turned the world upside down and disrupted the routines of students – none more than those who study and work in the profession. of health.

Distance learning became the norm and when the clinics came back there were fewer of them. “It (COVID) has definitely had a lot of clinical impact and learning,” Carpenter said, “But I love that we still persevered.

Carpenter is one of 1,832 undergraduates and 344 graduates graduating during two days of commencement ceremonies at TCNJ this week.

Thursday, May 19, 2022 – The 2022 College of New Jersey commencement schedule begins with the School of Nursing, Health, and Exercise Science on Thursday morning, May 19. The debut continues until Friday evening, May 20, 2022. Carole Kenner – Dean, School of Nursing, Health and Exercise Sciences, delivers remarks.Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

“You are survivors of zoomland and the pandemic…. You haven’t seen the COVID headlines, you’ve lived them,” Carole Kenner, dean of the TCNJ School of Nursing, Health and Exercise Sciences, told the students.

“Although this is not how we would have liked you to apply your knowledge in the classroom, you have learned that you have the skills necessary to be successful in your chosen career path.”

Carpenter agreed. “It (the pandemic) kind of helped me because it made me stand up for myself even more,” she said, “because when I was walking around with the nurses instead of saying: “Oh, I’m just going to look, I was like, ‘Can I give this baby an injection? Can I help you check this mom? Can I do this? Can I do that?'”

Start of TCNJ 2022

Thursday, May 19, 2022 – The 2022 College of New Jersey commencement schedule begins with the School of Nursing, Health, and Exercise Science on Thursday morning, May 19. The debut continues through Friday evening, May 20, 2022. TCNJ President Kathryn Foster delivers remarks.Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

TCNJ President Kathryn Foster acknowledged the difficulty faced by the Class of 2022, calling them “my class” because she began her tenure at TCNJ when they were freshmen in 2018.

“We grew up together during a remarkable four-year period in our lives, the life of this college and the history of the world,” she said. “I am so grateful for your company and your inspiration.”

Carpenter’s studies and her work thus far in nursing have shown her that the emergency setting is where she can do the most good. “I will be needed no matter what,” she said, “and I want to be there for those people in their worst times and be their light, or be that support for them.”

The fact that she graduated with honors even under these unprecedented conditions demonstrates that Carpenter is not discouraged by unforeseen challenges, a quality that will serve her well in the work she expects of her in the service of emergencies of Penn MedicinePrinceton Medical Center.

Carpenter and all of his fellow graduates overcame daunting odds to complete their nursing, health or exercise science education in the midst of a pandemic and prepare to enter the workforce.

Start of TCNJ 2022

Thursday, May 19, 2022 – The 2022 College of New Jersey commencement schedule begins with the School of Nursing, Health, and Exercise Science on Thursday morning, May 19. The debut continues through Friday evening, May 20, 2022. Towards the end of the ceremony, graduates Guillermo Rosales, center, and Dora Amoo-Achampong, right, join their classmates to greet friends and family in the bleacher.Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

The mortar that Carpenter carried at the start testifies to the courage required. It was Star Wars themed and included a quote from Han Solo in ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ when he dangerously – but successfully – flew his ship straight into an asteroid belt to avoid being capture. “Never tell me the odds.”

TCNJ’s School of Nursing, Health and Exercise Sciences started the two-day 2022 Departmental start at TCNJ on Thursday mornings at 8:30 a.m. Last is for all students receiving their master’s degree on Friday, May 20, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. EST.

All events are streamed live and can be viewed here.

Start of TCNJ 2022

Thursday, May 19, 2022 – The 2022 College of New Jersey commencement schedule begins with the School of Nursing, Health, and Exercise Science on Thursday morning, May 19. The debut continues through Friday evening, May 20, 2022. Graduate Noelle Carpenter, of Florence, quotes Han Solo “Don’t ever tell me the odds,” on her Star Wars-themed mortarboard.Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

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Start of TCNJ 2022

Thursday, May 19, 2022 – The 2022 College of New Jersey commencement schedule begins with the School of Nursing, Health, and Exercise Science on Thursday morning, May 19. The debut continues until Friday evening May 20, 2022. Graduate Aidan Wilson, (Health & Exercise Science) mugs for a camera after graduating.Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Start of TCNJ 2022

Thursday, May 19, 2022 – The 2022 College of New Jersey commencement schedule begins with the School of Nursing, Health, and Exercise Science on Thursday morning, May 19. The debut runs until Friday evening May 20, 2022. Graduate Jared Lyles, from Chesilhurst, pauses for a hug from his mum, Carla Ortiz, on his way home after collecting his diploma.Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Start of TCNJ 2022

Thursday, May 19, 2022 – The 2022 College of New Jersey commencement schedule begins with the School of Nursing, Health, and Exercise Science on Thursday morning, May 19. The debut continues through Friday evening, May 20, 2022. Caitlyn Finnery, Class of 2022, receives applause after delivering greetings from the Department of Health and Exercise Science.Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Start of TCNJ 2022

Thursday, May 19, 2022 – The 2022 College of New Jersey commencement schedule begins with the School of Nursing, Health, and Exercise Science on Thursday morning, May 19. The debut continues through Friday evening, May 20, 2022. Seva Sylvester Gallant, center, (Health and Exercise Science) joins his classmates in twirling their acorns.Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Start of TCNJ 2022

Thursday, May 19, 2022 – The 2022 College of New Jersey commencement schedule begins with the School of Nursing, Health, and Exercise Science on Thursday morning, May 19. The debut continues until Friday evening, May 20, 2022.Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Start of TCNJ 2022

Thursday, May 19, 2022 – The College of New Jersey 2022 Commencement begins with the School of Nursing, Health, and Exercise Science on Thursday morning, May 19. The debut continues until Friday evening May 20, 2022. Graduate Seth Marcelo (nursing) poses for an official photo after collecting his diploma.Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Start of TCNJ 2022

Thursday, May 19, 2022 – The 2022 College of New Jersey commencement schedule begins with the School of Nursing, Health, and Exercise Science on Thursday morning, May 19. The debut continues through Friday evening, May 20, 2022. Sharon Ranson (RN) poses for an official photo after collecting her diploma.Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Start of TCNJ 2022

Thursday, May 19, 2022 – The 2022 College of New Jersey commencement schedule begins with the School of Nursing, Health, and Exercise Science on Thursday morning, May 19. The debut continues until Friday evening May 20, 2022. Graduate Noelle Carpenter, from Florence, turns around to show off her degree to her family in the stands.Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

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Michael Mancuso can be reached at mmancuso@njadvancemedia.com

Warning over ‘unsafe’ nursing home with residents at risk of ‘avoidable harm’

Chelsey W. Vogt
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According to a recent Care Quality Commission (CQC) report, a nursing home was deemed “unsafe”, with residents at risk of preventable harm.

Derwent Lodge Nursing Home, on New Ferry Rd, was rated ‘Insufficient’ by the CQC after an inspection in December 2021, which identified serious concerns regarding risk management, care delivery and medication management in the home.

A further inspection was carried out in March this year and, while the facility’s overall rating has improved to ‘Improvement Needed’, the most recent report still contains alarming details about the quality of care.

READ MORE: Angry nan says she’s ‘numb’ after missing out on £1,200 TUI holiday to Spain

The report, published last week, found the medication management was unsafe, rendering the home in breach of Regulation 12 of the Health and Welfare Act 2008.

Some medications, such as insulin and inhaler stocks, could not be counted, while critical information about a person’s diabetes was missing and other information was difficult to track. It was therefore impossible to determine whether the person’s diabetes was being managed safely.

The CQC determined that there were no syringe pumps available in the home, despite some residents needing the equipment to receive prescribed anticipatory end-of-life medications.

Additionally, there were no effective checks to ensure medications were up to date and the facility did not regularly record residents’ fluid intake, putting them at risk of dehydration. Some people also felt the home was understaffed, with one parent describing the staff as “overworked, under pressure and not happy”.

Derwent Lodge, New Ferry, provides accommodation for up to 46 residents, including 23 people living in the house at the time of inspection. Most people living at home need nursing care and many have dementia.

The Birkenhead facility was placed in special measures in August 2021 and a new manager was appointed earlier this year. While the security clearance has not improved, the CQC found the new manager has had a positive impact on the home, with one parent noting things have “definitely improved” since his appointment.

A spokesperson for SureCare Group, which runs the facility, told ECHO: “The overall rating has improved to ‘Needs Improvement’ since the last report. We are currently working with the regulator, CQC, to agree on an action plan to improve the situation in the “Safe” category.

Nevada outbreaks studied at 9 local hospitals and 3 skilled nursing facilities

Chelsey W. Vogt
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State and federal health regulators are investigating outbreaks of a drug-resistant ‘superbug’ that can lead to serious illness at nine hospitals and three skilled nursing facilities in southern Nevada, revealed the state health department on Wednesday.

Overall, 19 facilities – 16 hospitals and three nursing facilities – have reported recent cases of Candida auris fungus. But not all of those facilities are experiencing outbreaks, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services, which investigates cases in acute care hospitals, acute care hospitals and long-term care facilities. qualified nurses.

From January 3 to Monday, 73 clinical cases of C. auris were identified and 92 cases in which individuals were “colonized” with the fungus but had no active infection. Colonized individuals show no symptoms of infection but have the fungus somewhere on their body, allowing them to spread the disease.

The state provided the data in a detailed response to an investigation by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, which reported the outbreaks on Tuesday.

“As we have seen in southern Nevada, C. auris has caused outbreaks in healthcare facilities and can be spread through contact with affected patients and contaminated surfaces and equipment,” the department said in its response. .

C. auris can cause bloodstream infections and even death, especially in hospitalized and nursing home patients with serious medical conditions. More than one in three patients die from an invasive C. auris infection, such as an infection affecting the blood, heart or brain, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has deployed a team to southern Nevada. to help with the investigation. .

The state health department said there had been deaths among Nevada patients with C. auris, but it was unclear whether the deaths were from the infection or from the disease. other factors. He did not specify how many died.

The most common symptoms of an invasive infection are fever and chills that do not improve after antibiotic treatment for a suspected bacterial infection.

CDC deploys a team

The state Bureau of Public Health Investigations and Epidemiology has been investigating outbreaks since mid-April. The office is working with each health care facility and the CDC “to combat the spread of Candida auris by understanding its methods of transmission,” the state health department said.

Health regulators are identifying gaps in infection prevention practices at facilities, educating as needed about C. auris and reviewing facility policies and procedures aimed at stopping transmission, the department said.

The CDC has deployed a team to help with case finding and transmission control within health care facilities. The team “will visit health facilities experiencing an increase in cases to conduct environmental sampling, extraction of records, observations and interviews with staff”.

Neither the state health department nor the CDC has identified which southern Nevada facilities are “experiencing an increase in cases.”

But employees at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center have been told the CDC will be on site this week and speaking with staff. A representative from the Sunrise Health System, which includes three acute care hospitals, said it was not releasing any case figures.

The University Medical Center said on Tuesday it had identified a cluster of cases. St. Rose Dominican said it identified one case at its three hospitals. The Valley Health System declined to say whether any cases had been identified at any of its six acute care hospitals.

Difficult to treat, prevent

Healthy people generally do not develop C. auris infections, the state said.

“Most people who get serious Candida infections already have other medical conditions, live in medical facilities such as nursing homes, have had medical treatment outside the United States, or have lines or tubes that go into their body,” he said.

These factors put individuals at higher risk for infection, as do recent surgery, diabetes, broad-spectrum antibiotics, and antifungal use.

Candida auris, first identified in Japan in 2009, is a serious global health threat, according to the CDC. Once rare, the infection has become more common and is often resistant to several drugs typically used to treat Candida infections. Some of its strains are resistant to all types of antifungals.

In 2021, nearly 1,300 confirmed or probable cases of C. auris were reported, according to CDC data, with triple-digit cases in California, Florida, Illinois and New York. Nevada had two reported cases last year.

C. auris infections are not only difficult to treat, but difficult to prevent. The fungus “can colonize patients for many months, persist in the environment, and be resistant to some disinfectants commonly used in healthcare settings that are not specific to eliminating C. auris from surfaces,” the report said. State.

However, he said “early detection and infection control can limit the spread of C. auris.”

Contact Mary Hynes at mhynes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0336. Follow @MaryHynes1 on Twitter.

Outbreaks of ‘superbugs’ reported in Nevada hospitals and nursing facilities

Chelsey W. Vogt
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State and federal health officials are investigating ongoing outbreaks in Nevada hospitals and nursing homes of a drug-resistant “superbug” that can lead to serious illness and even death.

In mid-April, the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services was investigating outbreaks of a fungus called Candida auris in acute care hospitals, long-term acute care hospitals, and skilled nursing facilities. , according to a technical bulletin sent by the state to health care providers.

The bulletin, which advises healthcare facilities to take special infection control and prevention precautions, does not say where the outbreaks occurred, how many patients were affected or whether any of the cases were fatal. However, some hospitals in southern Nevada have confirmed that they have identified recent cases.

Mark Pandori, director of the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory, said the vast majority of cases analyzed by the lab came from southern Nevada. Several health facilities were affected, he said.

Candida auris, first identified in Japan in 2009, is a serious global health threat, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Once rare, the infection has become more common and is often resistant to several drugs typically used to treat Candida infections. Some of its strains are resistant to all types of antifungals.

Genetically analyzed test samples at the state lab indicate that Nevada’s cases are mostly drug-responsive, Pandori said. The analysis also indicates that there have been multiple introductions of the fungus into the community, rather than spreading from a single source.

Pandori referred additional questions about the outbreaks to the state health department, which did not provide comment Tuesday evening.

A CDC representative said the federal agency is “supporting local health authorities in Nevada in response to an ongoing Candida auris outbreak at multiple health care facilities.”

“CDC experts are helping to identify additional cases, assess facility infection control practices, and ensure staff are educated about C. auris and its prevention strategies,” Rep. Belsie González said in a statement. an email.

“C. auris is an emerging, often multidrug-resistant, highly transmissible yeast that causes outbreaks in health care settings, often in long-term care facilities,” González said in the email. . auris can persist on patients and in the environment for weeks and can be spread among patients through contact with contaminated surfaces.

Some people carry the fungus on their skin without showing signs of infection, but with the potential to pass it on to others, according to the CDC’s website.

Hospitals confirm cases

University Medical Center, the county’s public hospital, said it identified a “cluster” of cases.

“Like other acute care hospitals in Las Vegas and across the country, UMC infectious disease specialists have identified a cluster of Candida auris and are expertly guiding our clinicians through infection control procedures. necessary to maintain the health and safety of our patients and caregivers,” Representative Danita Cohen said in an email.

Sunrise Health System “continues to work with the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services and the CDC to understand and address this emerging disease in Las Vegas healthcare facilities,” said Representative Antonio Castelan. The Sunrise system includes MountainView, Southern Hills and Sunrise hospitals.

“We will continue to monitor and work with all agencies to keep our patients safe,” said Castelan, who said the Sunrise system is not releasing the number of cases it has identified.

St. Rose Dominican has identified a recent case at its three hospitals, Rep. Gordon Absher said. The patient was treated and left his Siena campus in mid-March.

“Our healthcare professionals remain in contact with local health authorities and the CDC and are ready to treat and manage any cases we may encounter,” Absher said in an email.

Valley Health System hospitals “are aware of the situation and are taking all necessary precautions,” said Rep. Gretchen Papez. She did not say whether her system — Centennial Hills, Desert Springs, Henderson, Spring Valley, Summerlin and Valley hospitals — had identified any cases.

COVID-19 linked to infections

C. auris can cause bloodstream infections and even death, especially in hospitalized and nursing home patients with serious medical conditions. According to the CDC, more than one in three patients die from an invasive C. auris infection, such as an infection affecting the blood, heart, or brain.

The most common symptoms of an invasive infection are fever and chills that do not improve after antibiotic treatment for a suspected bacterial infection. A C. auris infection can be difficult to identify with standard laboratory methods, and it can be misidentified in labs without specific technology, according to the state bulletin.

In 2021, nearly 1,300 confirmed or probable cases of C. auris were reported, according to CDC data, with triple-digit cases in California, Florida, Illinois and New York. Nevada had only two reported cases last year.

The pandemic has fostered certain conditions that have made its spread more likely, with outbreaks occurring in COVID-19 units of acute care hospitals, the CDC said. These outbreaks may be linked to changes in routine infection control practices, including limited availability of gloves and gowns, reuse or prolonged use of these items, and changes in cleaning and disinfection practices. .

Contact Mary Hynes at mhynes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0336. To follow @MaryHynes1 on Twitter.

Healthcare – US hits 1 million COVID deaths

Chelsey W. Vogt
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©Getty

You can now get another round of free COVID-19 tests from the post office, for a total of eight.

Today, the United States officially reached the shocking total of one million deaths from COVID-19, and there are new actions against the infant formula crisis.

Welcome to night health care, where we follow the latest developments in policies and news concerning your health. For The Hill, we are Peter Sullivan, Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi. Subscribe here.

The country takes a dark step

The United States has reached 1 million reported deaths from COVID-19, according to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a figure that shows the shocking toll the virus has taken on the country.

The United States has recorded more deaths per capita than Western Europe or Canada, and although new deaths have fallen, the total number of deaths continues to increase.

It is also expected that the United States, like other countries, has underestimated the true number of deaths from the coronavirus.

Illustrating how high the million dead originally seemed, then-President Trump said in March 2020 that keeping the country between 100,000 and 200,000 dead would mean “all of us, together, have done some very good work”.

Deaths continued to pile up even in 2021 and 2022, after vaccines became widely available, disproportionately among people who were not vaccinated or who did not receive a booster.

An analysis by the Peterson Center on Healthcare and the Kaiser Family Foundation found that about 234,000 deaths from COVID-19 in the United States, or about a quarter of the total, could have been prevented if people had been vaccinated.

The share is even higher, at 60%, of deaths since vaccines became widely available in June 2021.

President Biden late last week ordered flags at half mast to commemorate Americans who have died from COVID.

Learn more here.

Abbott and FDA reach agreement to restart infant formula factory

Infant formula maker Abbott Nutrition said it has reached an agreement with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on its way to restarting operations at its plant in Sturgis, Michigan.

The facility was closed for more than three months while the FDA investigated whether the plant’s powdered formula had caused four babies to contract a rare bacterial disease. Two of them died, and a subsequent FDA inspection revealed unsanitary conditions at the plant.

The shutdown and recall of all products made at the Sturgis plant has significantly worsened an already strained infant formula supply chain, but has hit parents who rely on specialty formula the hardest.

Once the FDA confirms initial start-up requirements have been met, Abbott said it could restart the site within two weeks.

The company did not immediately reveal what the requirements were. The company called the deal a “consent decree” and said it must be approved by a federal judge.

Months away: But even if the plant reopens within Abbott’s timeline, the company said it won’t be able to get the formula on store shelves for at least six to eight weeks after that.

“Our number one priority is to provide infants and families with the high-quality formulas they need, and this is a major step towards reopening our Sturgis plant so that we can alleviate the shortage of formulas at the nationwide,” said Robert B. Ford, president and CEO. Abbott’s officer said in a statement.

“We know millions of parents and caregivers depend on us and we are deeply sorry that our voluntary recall has exacerbated the nationwide formula shortage.”

Learn more here.

The house targets the shortage of formulas

The House will pass legislation this week to address the national infant formula shortage, as Republicans hammer the Biden administration on the issue.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) said Friday the House will pass a pair of bills this week to address shortages, which have left parents and guardians scrambling to find food for their infants.

Pelosi announced in a letter to colleagues on Friday that the House would pass a bill granting emergency authority to the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants and children — called the WIC program.

Pelosi said giving the program emergency authority will help address the supply chain issue and recalls affecting the infant formula industry, and allow the federal government to relax some non-safety related regulations. .

“Ensuring that every precious baby gets the nutrition they need is a matter of the baby’s life and development,” she wrote in her letter.

“While it is essential that we ensure this problem does not happen again, at the moment babies are crying and babies are hungry – so we must take urgent action to protect their health and well-being” , she added.

Learn more here.

CANADA AND MEXICO HOLD ON TO INFLUX OF AMERICANS DEMANDING ABORTION

Activists in Mexico and Canada are already preparing for a possible influx of Americans crossing the border to demand abortion access if Roe v. Wade is canceled.

In Mexico, which has historically provided cheap access to health care for Americans living in border regions, activists say they have already seen an increase in the number of women coming from Texas to request access to abortion pills.

They now say they are bracing for a potential surge in demand from other U.S. states after a Supreme Court draft opinion quashing Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling protecting a woman’s right to an abortion was leaked to the media earlier this month. .

While it’s unclear how accurately the draft will reflect the upcoming ruling, the leak has already raised concerns that many states with so-called trigger laws will ban abortion entirely once the ruling is made. of the highest court taken.

Verónica Cruz Sánchez, the founder of Las Libres, a Mexican organization that defends the right to abortion, said in an interview with The Hill that women cross the length of the US-Mexico border in the states of Baja California. and from Sonora in the west, to Coahuila and Tamaulipas in the east.

“We are definitely gearing up to help more women. When we started with this idea, we only had Texas in mind. But in the last few months we have seen more women from other parts of the United States,” Sánchez said. “We understand that we are going to need a lot more infrastructure and improve our logistics to help develop more networks to help women.”

Learn more here.

SLOWDOWN IN RECALL TAKEN LEAVES ELDERLY AMERICANS AT RISK

The delivery of coronavirus boosters in the United States has stalled, especially among older populations, leaving millions of vulnerable people at risk of serious infection and death.

After bottoming out in late March and early April, COVID-19 infections are steadily increasing across the country.

More worryingly, hospitalizations have also increased by 20% in the past two weeks, although deaths have remained relatively low, especially compared to the winter peak, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Studies show that protection against infection from the initial series of vaccines begins to decline after about six months.

Health officials are urging people over 50 to get a second booster, but many haven’t even received their first yet.

“What we should really be worried about is getting the boosters we need to stay current, so with the new variants we have we don’t have unnecessary deaths and hospitalizations,” said said Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf on CNN. recently.

A recent CDC study of national nursing home immunization data found that residents who received an additional or booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine had 47% greater protection against infection during the prominence of the disease. omicron variant than those who had only received a primary series.

Learn more here.

WHAT WE READ

  • Democrats have little time to avoid an Obamacare bonus hike on the eve of the election (HuffPost)
  • A legal Wild West: Abortion rights advocates prepare a playbook for life after Roe (Politico)
  • FDA rejects antidepressant considered possible Covid-19 treatment (Stat)

STATE BY STATE

  • States have yet to spend hundreds of millions of federal dollars to address Covid health disparities (Kaiser Health News)
  • Washington State AG Seeks Protection for Out-of-State Abortion Providers (KREM)
  • More than a third of current COVID-19 hospitalizations at MaineHealth are ‘incidental’ (WMTW)

That’s all for today, thanks for reading. Check out The Hill’s healthcare page for the latest news and coverage. Until tomorrow.

SEE THE FULL VERSION HERE.

‘People, not profits’: Hatters unite to defend public health care

Chelsey W. Vogt
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Megan Eggins is a Registered Nurse and President of Local 70 of the United Nurses of Alberta. She too is worried about what privatization would entail.

“My concern is that not all Albertans will receive the same standard of care. My biggest concern is that those who can afford it get it and those who can’t they are going to be lost and forgotten putting more pressure on the public health sector and also taking away a lot of nurses . We are already understaffed. Not just nurses, all healthcare workers,” she said.

Eggins said the nurses had been in survival mode for two years, with staff working over time and short-staffed. Stress is high, she says, and concerns about mental health persist.

“I can speak for myself but in the fall with the Delta wave it impacted a lot of people. Personally, I just know RNs, but there were about 40 of us who were redeployed, reassigned, and you were removed from your role and put in another, and some of us saw things that we never would have thought see in our career, and it was traumatic,” she said.

“Personally, I was in the COVID-19 unit and, it was, it was a very sad experience. Never in my life would I have thought to see such acuteness, and an illness invading an entire unit,” she added.

Eggins said the pandemic has resulted in an exodus of nurses and medical professionals who are just finished. For nursing in particular, she said there needs to be more emphasis on recruitment and retention, as well as proper mentorship for new nurses.

The rally in Medicine Hat was part of a province-wide initiative. Rallies also took place in Lethbridge, Red Deer, Calgary and Edmonton.

Redwalls nursing home receives heartwarming therapy dog ​​visits

Chelsey W. Vogt
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That’s the heartwarming reaction of care home residents when they enjoyed a visit from two friendly therapy dogs.

Residents enjoy regular visits from Floyd, a seven-year-old Japanese Spitz, and Loki, a 10-month-old Leonberger.

Floyd is a frequent visitor to Redwalls Nursing Home in Sandiway, Cheshire, as well as other care homes run by Kingsley Healthcare Group.

It is owned by the center’s Wellness Coordinator, Jodie Solaiman, who organizes all the fun events and experiences at Redwalls.

Jodie’s sweet pet, Floyd, was first brought into the home to see how residents would react.

It was a huge success to see the incredible impact the dogs have had on the health and happiness of the residents.

Loki, which is owned by a man who visits his mother, “Grandma” Jo, had both residents and TikTok viewers begging to see more.

Nursing Home)” alt=”Northwich Guardian: Floyd is gentle with all residents (Jodie Solaiman/Redwalls Nursing Home)” class=”editor-image”/>Floyd is gentle with all residents (Jodie Solaiman/Redwalls Nursing Home)

So much so that the two dogs are now regular visitors.

Jodie, 25, said: “The dog therapy has been life changing in our nursing home.

“It’s so beneficial for the residents. I don’t think the dogs care either!

“It improves their mood, brings them comfort, can reduce loneliness, reduce anxiety and much more.

“Even for residents who are bedridden, they still need to be able to feel the happiness that a dog can bring. Laughter is the best medicine!”

Northwich Guardian: Resident Bob enjoying a visit (Jodie Solaiman/Redwalls Nursing Home)Resident Bob enjoying a visit (Jodie Solaiman/Redwalls Nursing Home)

Redwalls Nursing Home began posting videos on TikTok in May 2021 to share residents’ special moments and experiences.

They received millions of views and now have over 15,000 subscribers from all over the world.

Jodie hopes their TikTok content will help spread awareness of the “endless benefits” of canine therapy.

She said: “You can see the happiness our residents feel when the dogs come to visit.

Northwich Goalkeeper: (Jodie Solaiman/Redwalls Retirement Home)(Jodie Solaiman/Redwalls Retirement Home)

“The positive feedback from residents is the reason we have continued to offer canine therapy in our homes.

“We hope this will encourage other homes to incorporate canine therapy into their care.”

Rapid recovery observed with more frequent dialysis in skilled nursing facilities

Chelsey W. Vogt
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According to a study published online April 6 in International Hemodialysis.

Eran Y. Bellin, MD, of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, and colleagues examined DRT in 2,309 patients with ESRD receiving more frequent dialysis in an SNF (modeled to provide 14 hours of treatment minimum per week; November 4, 2019, through June 11, 2021) in 12 states and 154 SNFs.

Researchers reported that DRT was available for 108,876 dialysis sessions, with patients receiving an average of 4.3 dialysis treatments weekly. The vast majority of patients (92%) reported a DRT of two hours or less. Lower odds of rapid DRT were observed in patients who were older, had missed their previous therapy, or experienced intradialytic hypotension, while higher odds of rapid DRT were observed in patients receiving five dialysis treatments during the previous week or having between 160 and 179 mm Hg before systolic blood pressure in hemodialysis. An association was observed between rapid recovery and reduced mortality or hospitalizations.

“As we continue our efforts to systematically learn what benefits the SNF dialysis population, we see these results as very promising for potentially improving the ability of our patients to participate in rehabilitation and restorative services while living in the SNF, which will be the subject of our next series of studies,” a co-author said in a statement.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to Dialyze Direct, which provided care in the study.

Declining cardiovascular mortality in dialysis patients

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Registration for MNS BSc Nursing Course Starts at joinindianarmy.nic.in | Details inside

Chelsey W. Vogt
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Indian Army Recruitment 2022: The Indian Army has invited applications from female candidates who have registered and are standing for NEET (UG) 2022 for admission in four years Bachelor of Science in Nursing Courses from the year 2022 in the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) Nursing Colleges. Eligible candidates (women) can apply through the official website, joinindianarmy.nic.in no later than 31 May 2022. through it recruitment exama total of 220 vacant seats will be filled.Also Read – MP Board Class 5, 8 2022 Result Declared; Check the official website, download steps

Important dates to remember

  • Online application starts from: May 11
  • Deadline to apply: May 31

Indian Army BSc Nursing Exam 2022: Check Details

Name of establishment and number of places available

  • CON, AFMC Pune: 40 seats
  • CON, CH (EC) Kolkata: 30 seats
  • CON, INHS Asvini: 40 seats
  • CON, AH (R&R) New Delhi: 30 seats
  • CON, CH (CC) Lucknow: 40 seats
  • CON, CH (AF) Bangalore: 40 seats

Indian Army BSc Nursing Examination 2022 Eligibility criteria

Teaching diploma: Applicant must have passed FIRST ATTEMPT, Upper Secondary Examination (10+2) or equivalent (12 years of schooling) in Physics, Chemistry, Biology (Botany and Zoology) and English with at least 50% marks as a regular student of a statutory/recognized board/university/examination body. Candidates who will appear for the final year of the qualifying examination during the current academic session can also apply provisionally. Also Read – SSC Delhi Police Chief Constable Recruitment 2022: Notification to be released on May 17 | Details inside

Indian Army BSc Nursing Examination 2022 Selection process

Shortlisted candidates will be called for ToGlGE, PAT, interview and medical examination at a designated location. Also Read – UPSC Recruitment 2022: Only One Day Left to Apply for 67 Positions at upsc.gov.in | Read the details here

Indian Army BSc Nursing Examination 2022 Age Limit

A candidate must be born between October 1, 1997 and September 30, 2005 (both days inclusive)

Indian Army BSc Nursing Exam Registration Fee 2022

All applicants (except SC/ST) will be required to pay a sum of Rs 2001 – only as an application processing fee through the ONLINE payment gateway. For more details, applicants are advised to go through the official notification shared below.

How to apply online?

Interested candidates can register via www.joinindianarmy.nic.in which will be accessible from May 11, 2022 to May 31, 2022.

With reopening looking doubtful, Deer Isle nursing home is considering other uses for its facilities

Chelsey W. Vogt
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Faced with daunting hurdles that make reopening as a retirement home unlikely, the Deer Isle’s Island retirement home is considering other ways to use its facilities to help the elderly.

In a series of documents released this week, the nursing home described its ongoing struggle to overcome staffing shortages and meet upcoming licensing deadlines needed to reopen. But, with the facility still in good physical shape, the care home’s board said there was a chance it could turn into something else.

“We have several ideas for how we could create a whole new way to serve our seniors without as many challenges in providing skilled nursing care,” the council wrote in a new report.

The council did not explicitly say it was backing down from efforts to resuscitate the care home, but did note that it intended to have public discussions next month to seek suggestions on how best to resuscitate the care home. use the facility in the future.

Ronda Dodge, chair of the nursing home board, declined to comment Thursday on what other uses the board is considering.

The Island Nursing Home operated in Hancock County for 40 years before closing in 2021. One of the biggest employers on the island, it was a hit to many in Deer Isle and Stonington. A wave of support gathered around him after the closure and a local task force came together to help care home managers get the place back up and running.

However, despite efforts, the prospects for reopening the care home look bleak.

When the facility closed, the state suspended its Medicare licenses and certifications, allowing the nursing home to keep them in case it could reopen. The state license is due to expire in February 2023. Certifications with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services expire in October 2022.

To be financially stable, the care home would need to have a full skilled nursing unit – something the care home board concluded was not possible before the October deadline.

The care home would need more than 50 full-time care staff to meet licensing requirements, a number it felt it could not meet. In 2020 and 2021, the house said it had exhausted all its hiring options and still had 37 unfilled positions when it closed.

The council considered bringing in nurses from the Philippines, but felt it would take at least a year before they could arrive.

Any potential staff who could be secured would also need accommodation, which is increasingly difficult to find on the island. The nursing home has focused on housing construction, encouraging people to offer their homes for rent or to buy existing properties.

Although securing more accommodation would likely have attracted more staff, the care home felt that with the continued shortage of workers there would still not have been enough people, whether or not there were accommodation for them.

Reopening after either licensing deadline would mean the nursing home would have to conform to a host of different standards to which it had previously been grandfathered and require structural changes to the building.

According to Covenant Health, a consultant hired by the nursing homes‘ board of directors late last year, the nursing home would also need a minimum of $3 million in reserve by October to fund the first year of operation, another obstacle even if he could get the necessary staff. .

“Given the current staffing challenges, the impact of the pandemic and the October 2022 wait date, it would be more realistic for the INH Board to reassess the potential operating a retirement home in two or three years,” Covenant wrote. in a presentation earlier this month.

The consultant suggested, given the financial constraints of operating a skilled nursing facility, that the council consider partnering with a larger organization if it wished to continue as a nursing home.

Another option the board said it seriously considered was to provide residential care only. But he calculated that under this model he would lose about $500,000 a year.

Without a “qualified nursing unit to help offset costs, it is not financially viable to operate solely as a residential care facility dependent on reimbursements from the State of Maine,” the board wrote.

If the nursing home remains closed, it would be a blow to the area, city officials said. In a grizzled part of the state, the next closest retirement home in Hancock County is about 30 miles away in Ellsworth.

“This is terrible news,” said Stonington City Manager Kathleen Billings. “It’s a great loss for the community, there’s no doubt about that.”

Kentucky nurse on health care crisis: ‘Hospital policies must be about patient care, not shareholder wallets’

Chelsey W. Vogt
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0

the World Socialist Website received this letter from Sheri, a nurse in Kentucky, outlining the transformations in hospitals, the exploitation of nurses and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The day I graduated from kindergarten, I made it clear that I intended to become a nurse. I worked as a nursing aide from 1988 to 1996. In the fall of 1996, I finally started nursing school. My mother passed away in 1985. My father attended my graduation, and you would have thought of the pride I saw on his face that I had just earned a doctorate. in neurosurgery.

When I started my career, we still wore white uniforms. And people respected those uniforms. We took our work seriously because it is serious work. We have comforted the bereaved, held the hands of the scared and dying alone, offered relief to those in pain and, most gratifyingly, we have saved lives.

I felt good in what I did. Now all I feel is tired… and angry, and used, and overworked, and pressured, fearful, and threatened. But above all, I feel betrayed.

East Alabama Medical Center nurse Abby Smith works on a COVID-19 patient in the intensive care unit Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020, in Opelika, Ala. (AP Photo/Julie Bennett)

Over the weekend, my most recent incident, I disarmed a patient and took his gym bag full of weapons. You won’t find this story in any newspaper or TV news. Not even in a hospital report. It’s not a story my employer wouldn’t want to repeat because it would be bad for business.

And that brings me to my point.

The biggest and most detrimental change I’ve seen in medicine is that it’s not about medicine anymore. It’s just business. Hospitals have always been a business, but medicine came first. This emphasis has changed.

I remember that in 2004, hospitals across the country hired public relations firms to teach nurses about “customer service”, in order to better serve families. We were actually told to focus on visitor Needs. Then, in 2006, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented the HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) surveys to make certain nurses understand their customer service missions.

As a result of this priority shift, I now have to deal with situations like (and it’s true) a family member walks into a room during a code and asks for a coffee! What do you think is the priority under these new guidelines: saving a life or getting that visitor their coffee?

It does nothing to help the patient. All of this means more time serving as a waitress or maid to visitors and less time caring for patients. Hospital administrators know that surveys typically completed by family members determine their performance in national surveys, which means more customers and profits.

In 2011, CMS established the Electronic Health Records (EHR) Incentive Program for Medicare/Medicaid. Hospitals had to implement the program by January 2014 in order to be eligible for reimbursement of beneficiary costs. The expensive nature of these records meant more time spent maintaining records on computers and less time spent on patient care.

And to save cost, they expect nurses to clean rooms, pick up trash, bring food and feed patients while asking us to take more patients. What does it mean?

Nurses now go back and forth to fetch soft drinks and snacks, cater to the every whim of visiting family and friends, rush to computers to plot every hour and tick boxes every every two hours (even if there is no change in the patient’s condition), running for scheduled medications, emptying bedpans, giving a bath or shower to a patient, cleaning feces from hair, of a patient’s walls and ceilings as well as deal with the unexpected that happens every day.

It’s not uncommon for patients to use their call lights not for emergencies, which they were intended for, but to “change the channel on the TV” or “pull up my blanket a bit” or ” fluff up my pillow” or “me my purse” or “give me a Sprite”. But all this patient care still needs to be done!

But above all, you have to draw! Management knows the nurses will stay and finish the case even if it means staying two hours on your shift.

Have you ever heard of “Warning Fatigue”? [Alarm fatigue describes how busy workers, especially in health care, become desensitized to safety alerts, and as a result they ignore or fail to respond appropriately to such warnings.] I don’t know of any other profession apart from nursing that suffers more. Honestly, I do not know. Alarms, sirens, whistles, bells, shouts, pulsating flashing lights that constantly attract the nurse’s attention.

WARNING for drugs one minute late. WARNING to attempt to give programmed potassium when the patient’s lab value is within normal limits. WARNING for PRN [Pro re nata, or simply “as needed”] the medicine is scanned five minutes before the end of the four hours. WARNING to document the location of the IV site before administering medication even if there is a separate diagram describing the location of the IV.

CAUTION Fatigue is TRUE!

Recent events regarding RaDonda Vaught have brought attention to this next situation and compounded the additional pressures. If the pharmacy, for whatever reason, is unable to enter newly ordered medications, we must replace the PYXIS (automated mediation dispensing systems). We have the order to give the drugs but no direct access to the drugs. (Keep in mind there can’t be a minute delay or WARNING!) After canceling, we then need to type an explanation for each drug we’re deleting.

I recently had a patient with dangerously low blood sugar. The attending physician ordered the immediate administration of a solution of D50 (concentrated dextrose). But the medicine was not available in the PYXIS. It took 45 minutes for the pharmacy to deliver it. The patient could not eat. I mixed sugar in a lubricant and administered it rectally. Although it is not a policy, it saved his life.

What if I hadn’t? What if I had just waited at the pharmacy? In 45 minutes, this patient could have slipped into a coma and died. Could I have been charged with murder? Anyone taking diabetes medication should have D50 ordered as a PRN order, and it should have been available at PYXIS.

Things have to change.

Hospital policies should focus on patient care, not shareholder portfolios, staff increases, or CEO end-of-year bonuses.

Nurses have worked on COVID units for more than two years without proper personal protective equipment. Disposable N95 respirators intended for use on every isolated patient were suddenly good enough for ten 12-hour shifts.

True to form, on March 1, 2020, laws were put in place to protect money on the health and well-being of essential workers (and by extension those workers’ families), stating that employers cannot be held responsible if employees contracted COVID.

How many nurses lost their lives as hospitals continued to make money in spades?

Nurses do not intentionally harm patients. We have been crying for over 20 years that health care is in trouble. But those cries always fell on deaf ears. We face many distractions, obstacles, roadblocks and increasing abuses and legal pitfalls that could be eliminated…if it didn’t reduce the CEO’s salary.

The United States is seeing the beginning of a mass exodus from the nursing field. People better start preparing to take care of their emergencies themselves. If changes aren’t made soon, you’ll be on your own!

Delusions have a direct impact on the quality of life of nursing home residents with dementia

Chelsey W. Vogt
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Nursing home residents with dementia who experience delusions and hallucinations have a lower quality of life. Moreover, these specific conditions require targeted treatments that take into account co-occurring neuropsychiatric symptoms, according to a new study.

Investigators analyzed the quality of life scores of 971 nursing home residents with dementia, as assessed by proxies. When residents had both delusions and hallucinations, they were more likely to have an impaired quality of life, the researchers found. These symptoms had a negative effect on well-being independently of other neuropsychiatric symptoms which are frequently comorbid.

Additionally, co-occurring symptoms such as agitation, anxiety, and depression influenced the relationship between delusions and hallucinations and residents’ quality of life.

The findings underscore the urgent need to develop treatments to target psychotic symptoms in this population, the authors said. It’s also important for clinicians to take “a more holistic view” of how these symptoms impact residents’ well-being, they added. Chronic pain, for example, also showed a significant association with reduced quality of life, they noted.

“This is important when considering the optimal approach to interventions aimed at improving the quality of life of people with dementia presenting with neuropsychiatric symptoms,” the authors concluded.

Participants took part in a study of the Wellness and Health of People with Dementia (WHELD) program.

The full findings have been published in JAMDA.

Related Articles:

Reduction of antipsychotics in LTC leads to drug substitutions and more delusional diagnoses

Poorly controlled pain linked to disruptive behaviors in residents with dementia

Large-scale study to test the use of cannabinoids in psychosis related to Parkinson’s disease

Healthcare in British Columbia: Community emergency center fully reopens

Chelsey W. Vogt
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A health center in a small British Columbia community that had to reduce hours of operation due to staffing issues will resume 24-hour emergency care, the local health authority has announced.

Interior Health President Susan Brown said two more registered nurses have been recruited to allow Slocan Community Health Center to resume normal operations in its emergency department.

“I would like to thank the community for their support as we managed Omicron-related staffing challenges earlier this year and reduced emergency departments to maintain safe patient care,” Brown said in a statement. press release released on Monday.

Interior Health announced in January that the center’s emergency department would only operate 12 hours a day — 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. — due to a staff shortage.

Health care across British Columbia has been impacted by extra workloads and staffing shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing many small town health centers to reduce hours or temporarily close. Additionally, some healthcare workers in British Columbia are no longer working due to a vaccination mandate, although the mandate does not apply to all healthcare workers and it is unclear whether the restrictions impacted recent closures at Interior Health.

Less than two weeks ago, limited and unplanned staffing capacity led to an overnight closure at the Clearwater emergency department. Days earlier, Merritt and area residents had been notified that the emergency department at Nicola Valley Hospital was set to close overnight due to staffing issues.

Nurses have previously told CTV News that they now work understaffed almost all the time.

“The nurses are exhausted. They are exhausted. They need better mental health supports,” said BC Nurses’ Union President Adriane Gear earlier this year. “We are not heroes. Nurses are human.”

Provincial health officials have repeatedly said they are working to increase recruitment into the healthcare sector and the University of British Columbia School of Nursing said it has seen applications increase during the pandemic.

Denver’s new mayor, Leonard Casey, said he’s happy that 24/7 service is resuming in his community.

“Having access to 24/7 care enables our community to seek medical care quickly, regardless of the challenges posed by geographic location and limited pre-hospital services,” he said in a statement.

‘A sight for sore eyes’: Nursing home industry creates 900 jobs in April

Chelsey W. Vogt
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While the health care industry added about 34,300 jobs in April, only 900 of those jobs were in the skilled nursing sector.

The American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) called the data from the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report “a treat for the eyes,” but it is still a long way from recovering the 241,000 caregivers. jobs lost during the pandemic.

“Vendors are doing all they can to recruit and retain staff, but we need government support to move forward faster,” AHCA/NCAL said in an emailed statement. “It’s time for policymakers to invest in our frontline heroes and craft policies that will help recruit and retain hundreds of thousands of long-term carers.”

Doctors’ offices, home care providers and hospitals saw the largest increase among healthcare employees.

Doctor’s offices added 9,800 jobs and home care providers hired 7,800 employees last month. Hospitals added 4,500 additional jobs in April, but the sector still remains down nearly 100,000 jobs since the start of COVID-19.

The long-term care industry lost 2,500 jobs in March, further deepening a labor crisis to a level not seen since 2007.

“Now is the time to address the workforce challenges resulting from poor policy choices by elected leaders and decades of underfunding of government-supported long-term care services. Staffing needs to be the No. 1 priority,” a LeadingAge spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

The nonprofit Association of Aging Service Providers proposed efforts to emerge from the crisis, including: increasing compensation for frontline staff by increasing federal funding for FMAP; expand the pool of candidates with training and apprenticeship programs; change immigration policy to expedite the process of bringing international nurses to the United States more quickly and combat “price gouging” from recruiting agencies.

Skilled nursing providers like Majestic Care have had to get creative with recruiting and retaining staff through efforts like perfect attendance bonuses, employee discounts and, in some places, subsidized rent.

Majestic Care CEO Bernie McGuinness told Skilled Nursing News on a recent episode of the Rethink publication’s podcast that he and the management team launched Majestic Difference, an employee-focused benefits program .

“I hope the benefits and the things that we continue to question ourselves [with] as an organization, I hope they will continue to make a difference for our care team members. I believe this is how we should respond to the pandemic,” he said.

The growing health care crisis in the United States

Chelsey W. Vogt
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The rate of Americans being diagnosed with diabetes isn’t slowing, and the Covid-19 pandemic has only heightened the risks and concerns about this debilitating chronic disease.

According to the American Diabetes Association, 1.5 million people will be diagnosed with diabetes this year. So why aren’t more people talking about it? The pandemic may have shifted collective attention. After all, a nation in health crisis mode can only focus on so many issues at once. Still, hospitalizations and deaths from diabetes or related complications were just behind the elderly and nursing home residents.


Aside from the buildup of the pandemic, the disease was not getting the attention it deserved, in part because of how the stigma around diabetes affects our concern, even though it affects more people each year.

Between 1980 and 2014, the number of people with diabetes increased from 108 million to 422 million. “The prevalence has been increasing faster in low- and middle-income countries,” reports the World Health Organization. Diabetes can lead to blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, strokes and lower limb amputation.

“Diabetes is always swept under the rug because in the minds of so many people they simply associate it with poor health habits and being overweight,” says Deena Fink. She is a bartender in addition to running a small online knitting business.

Most of the time, her type 1 diabetes doesn’t slow her down. It is a disease with which she has lived for 16 years. “What really needs to change is the stigma of diabetes,” Deena explains in an interview with Wealth of Geeks.

She is grateful for her health care plan, despite the barriers she often faces getting her medication. “They have to start treating it like a chronic disease.”

Like many others during the first months of the pandemic, Deena was afraid to leave her house. “I didn’t even want to leave the house to go shopping,” she says. The risks are different for someone with a chronic disease. “I just caught a cold, I was knocked out for several days.” She also couldn’t go to a doctor’s office.

“You’re supposed to do your A1C quarterly,” she explains, but she couldn’t see her doctor for a year and a half. Instead, Deena had to estimate what those numbers would be. The A1C test provides a three-month average of what blood sugar levels should be. This is how a person with diabetes stays within reach.

Deena faces a monthly battle with the insurance company just to receive her regular dose of three vials of insulin. Without insurance, she would have to pay $175 per bottle.

Although lifestyle changes such as maintaining a healthy weight and diet, being physically active and quitting smoking can reduce the health risks associated with diabetes, this does not guarantee not that the disease will not have harmful symptoms over time. Moreover, COVID-19 increases these risks worldwide.

Diabetes was responsible for 6.7 million deaths in 2021, according to the International Diabetes Federation. In addition to the 537 million adults living with diabetes today, an additional 541 million have impaired glucose tolerance, a condition that puts them at high risk for type 2 diabetes.

And what about the financial side? The WHO reports that “diabetes has caused at least $966 billion in healthcare expenditure – a 316% increase over the past 15 years”.

As more people are diagnosed, the opportunities for visibility and change increase. People with diabetes often become advocates for change.

“Stigma can happen when you expose an ‘invisible’ disease like diabetes to the public eye,” says diabetes advocate Michael Donohoe. When he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, he was also diagnosed with heart disease. “I try to raise awareness and understanding by being as open as possible about my diabetes. I also advocate loud and clear for those newly diagnosed or severely affected,” he says.

Although the elderly and residents of nursing homes were the hardest hit by the virus, people with diabetes were right behind them. This news comes as the total number of deaths in the United States reaches 1 million.

“People with poorly controlled diabetes are particularly vulnerable to severe illness from COVID, in part because diabetes impairs the immune system, but also because people with the disease often struggle with high blood pressure, obesity and other underlying medical conditions,” reports The New York Times. .

People with diabetes must constantly monitor their disease. “It’s a disease that hurts,” Deena says, “because you never stop taking care of yourself. Every decision you make every day of your life will affect your diabetes.”

“It’s so much work,” she says, “but it keeps you alive.”

With diabetes diagnoses skyrocketing across the globe, it’s only a matter of time before the world stops hiding from this health crisis and confronts it head-on.

Celebrating with residents, nursing homes create activities highlighting National Nursing Home Week

Chelsey W. Vogt
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National Nursing Home Week runs from May 8-14 and is themed “Creating and Nurturing Connections”.

The following Maryville senior residences have prepared fun activities for residents and their families.

Parkdale Mansion

• Sunday, May 8, Mother’s Day and National “Have a Coke Day”.

• Monday, May 9, Connect with nature.

• Tuesday 10 May, Music and Games.

• Wednesday, May 11, National Third Shift Workers Day.

• Thursday 12 May, Chocolate Day and Limerick Day.

• Friday, May 13, Apple Pie Day and have fun with staff and residents.

Maryville Living Center and the Castle

• Monday, May 9, “Tractors and fun” including a tractor show, a tractor makes ice cream by Ron Sobotka and other outdoor entertainment with Jennifer Murphy and Sheri Roush.

• Tuesday, May 10, “Just Another Day in Paradise” featuring a Hawaiian luau, shell necklaces, tiki bar for fruit and punch, and photo booth props with Kelly Grady and Kim Baldwin.

• Wednesday May 11, Leonardo da Vinci with a demonstration of artistic know-how, art exhibition and grapes, cheeses and wine with Kim Bram and Linda Jenkins.

• Thursday, May 12, “A Cardinal Appears When an Angel Is Near,” featuring a garden flag memorial, reception for residents and staff, and honoring those lost with Miranda Spurgin and Autumn Burns.

• Friday, May 13, a barbecue with hamburgers and hot dogs by Brian Matthews and Bill Kavanaugh.

Village care center

• Monday May 9, Crazy Hair/Crazy Sock Day.

• Tuesday May 10, Western Day.

• Wednesday May 11, Hawaiian Day.

• Thursday 12 May, 50s party.

• Friday 13 May, Sports Day.

Nodaway Retirement Home

Disguised days

• Monday, May 9, Wear your pajamas.

• Tuesday 10 May, Decades Day.

• Wednesday May 11, Camo/Cowboy Day.

• Thursday May 12, fluo/tie-dye day

• Friday, May 13, company sweater day.

Other daily activities include:

• Monday, 10 am, proclamation reading by the Mayor of Maryville. Coffee and donuts to follow, and at 2:30 p.m. balloon release for loved ones lost over the past year with prayer.

• Tuesday, 10 a.m., auto show and 2:30 p.m., Bingo.

• Wednesday, 10:30 a.m. rope/washers and 2:30 p.m., “agricultural exhibition”.

• Thursday, 10 a.m., family and friends connect with Aseracare, and 2:30 p.m., tie-dye craft and brownies.

• Friday, 10:30 a.m., pizza toss and 2:30 p.m., happy hour.

Nursing Home Beds Market Key Vendors, Opportunities, In-Depth Analysis by Regional and Country Perspective

Chelsey W. Vogt
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0

Global “Nursing home bed market“The 2022 Reports provide key industry studies for Nursing Bed Manufacturers with specific statistics, meaning, definition, SWOT analysis, expert opinion and the latest developments worldwide. The research report also covers market size, price, sales, revenue, market share, gross margin, growth rate and cost structure. The report aims to provide a further selection of the latest scenario, the economic downturn and the effect of Covid-19 on the industry in general.

Get Sample Full PDF Copy of Report: (Including Full TOC, List of Tables & Figures, Chart) @ https://reportsglobe.com/download-sample/?rid=353699

The authors of the report draw up an encyclopedic assessment of the most important regional markets and their evolution in recent years. Readers are provided with accurate facts and figures about the Nursing Beds market and its important factors such as consumption, production, revenue growth, and CAGR. The report also shares gross margin, market share, attractiveness index, and value and volume growth for all segments studied by analysts. It highlights key developments, product portfolio, markets served and other areas depicting business growth of major companies profiled in the report.

The report has been prepared using the latest primary and secondary research methods and tools. Our analysts rely on government documents, white papers, press releases, reliable investor information, financial and quarterly reports, and public and private interviews to gather data and information about the market in which they operate.

Nursing Home Beds Market Segmentation:

Nursing Home Bed Market, By Application (2016-2027)

  • Civil household domain
  • Commercial area （Cold Storage/Building etc）
  • Field of environmental monitoring
  • Chemical field
  • Automotive field
  • Medical domain
  • Others

Nursing Bed Market, By Product (2016-2027)

  • Semiconductor
  • Electrochemistry
  • Photochemistry (IR, etc.)
  • PID (photo-ionization detector)
  • Catalytic combustion

Key Players Operating in the Nursing Bed Market:

  • Savion Industries
  • Favero health projects
  • transfer master
  • LINET Group
  • Merit of health products
  • Sidhil
  • Arjo Huntleigh
  • NOA Medical Industries
  • Roscoe Medical
  • Hill-Rom

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Scope of the Nursing Bed Market Report

ATTRIBUTES

The description

ESTIMATED YEAR

2022

YEAR OF REFERENCE

2021

FORECAST YEAR

2022 to 2028

HISTORICAL YEAR

2020

SECTORS COVERED

Types, applications, end users, and more.

REPORT COVER

Revenue Forecast, Business Ranking, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors and Trends

BY REGION

North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa

Geographic segment covered in the report:

The Nursing Beds report provides information on the market area, which is divided into sub-regions and countries/regions. In addition to the market share in each country and sub-region, this chapter of this report also contains information on profit opportunities. This chapter of the report mentions the market share and growth rate for each region, country and sub-region over the estimated period.

  • North America includes the United States, Canada and Mexico
  • Europe includes Germany, France, UK, Italy, Spain
  • South America includes Colombia, Argentina, Nigeria and Chile
  • Asia Pacific includes Japan, China, Korea, India, Saudi Arabia and Southeast Asia

Goals and Objectives of the Nursing Home Bed Market Research

  • To understand the opportunities and advancements in Nursing Beds determines the market highlights, along with the key regions and countries involved in the market growth.
  • Study the various segments of the Nursing Beds market and the dynamics of the Nursing Beds in the market.
  • Categorize the nursing bed segments with increasing growth potential and assess the futuristic segment market.
  • To analyze the most important trends related to the different segments that help decrypt and convince the Nursing Beds market.
  • Check region-specific growth and development in the Nursing Beds Market.
  • Understand the major stakeholders of the Nursing Beds market and the value of the competitive image of the Nursing Beds market leaders.
  • To study the key plans, initiatives, and strategies for the development of the Nursing Beds Market.

The study thoroughly examines the profiles of major market players and their key financial aspects. This comprehensive business analysis report is useful for all new and existing participants when designing their business strategies. This report covers KEYWORD production, revenue, market share and growth rate for each key company and covers the breakdown data (production, consumption, revenue and market share) by regions, type and applications. Historical nursing home bed distribution data from 2016-2021 and forecast for 2022-2028.

Ask questions about personalization at @ https://reportsglobe.com/need-customization/?rid=353699

Some highlights from the table of contents:

1 Presentation of the report

2 Market Trends and Competitive Landscape

3 Nursing Bed Market Segmentation by Types

4 Nursing Bed Market Segmentation by End Users

5 Market Analysis by Major Regions

6 Major Countries Nursing Bed Market Commodity Commodities

7 North America Nursing Bed Landscape Analysis

8 Europe Hospital Beds Landscape Analysis

9 Asia-Pacific Hospital Bed Landscape Analysis

10 Latin America, Middle East and Africa Nursing Bed Landscape Analysis

11 Profile of Key Players

How Reports Globe is different from other market research providers:

The creation of Reports Globe has been underpinned by providing clients with a holistic view of market conditions and future possibilities/opportunities to derive maximum benefit from their business and assist in decision making. Our team of in-house analysts and consultants work tirelessly to understand your needs and provide the best possible solutions to meet your research needs.

Our team at Reports Globe follows a rigorous data validation process, which allows us to publish publisher reports with minimal or no deviation. Reports Globe collects, separates and publishes over 500 reports each year covering products and services in many areas.

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Account Manager

WE: +1-970-672-0390

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Website: Reportsglobe.com

Mayor Tommy Battle honors healthcare heroes during National Nurses and Hospitals Weeks

Chelsey W. Vogt
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Published on May 5, 2022

Despite the unprecedented challenges caused by COVID-19, health professionals in the City of Huntsville have weathered all storms to meet the needs of the public.

That’s why Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle is honoring the selfless people who work in our hospitals and care for our community during National Nurses Week (May 6-12) and National Hospital Week (May 8 to May 14). Mayor Battle honored these unsung heroes Thursday, May 5 during a proclamation presentation with Huntsville Hospital CEO Jeff Samz and Crestwood Medical Center CEO Dr. Pam Hudson.

Regardless of the challenges that have arisen during the pandemic, Mayor Battle said Huntsville’s healthcare system is providing the best possible care to our citizens.

“We are extremely grateful to each of our nurses, doctors, technicians, therapists, support staff and other healthcare professionals for their hard work and dedication to keeping Huntsville healthy,” Mayor Battle said. “Your life-saving work is essential to the well-being of our community and the patients you serve.”

As CEO of Huntsville Hospital, Samz leads the nonprofit community health system that includes not only Huntsville Hospital and Huntsville Hospital for Women and Children, but also facilities across North Alabama and southern Tennessee. Additionally, the system operates Caring for Life, an inpatient palliative care facility in Huntsville.

Samz echoed Mayor Battle’s comments, saying the work nurses at Huntsville Hospital do every day and night “is nothing short of phenomenal.”

“It has become very apparent in the pandemic, but it has always been true,” he said. “We appreciate this recognition from the City of Huntsville and Mayor Battle. We share his pride and gratitude to the thousands of nurses and health care workers who serve our community.

Hudson said it’s critical that our community recognize, celebrate and honor healthcare workers not just in May, but throughout the year.

“These are the people who take care of us and our loved ones every day,” said Hudson, who runs Crestwood, a 180-bed full-service acute care hospital. “We appreciate Mayor Battle for this proclamation that elevates our nurses and all hospital teams for their sacrifice and dedication to keeping our community healthy.”

Course Details, Eligibility, Admission Process, Career Options – Punekar News

Chelsey W. Vogt
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Pune, May 5, 2022: BSc Nursing or Bachelor in Nursing is a 4-year undergraduate program aimed at providing medical aspirants with comprehensive knowledge and training in nursing. It is a good career option for anyone looking for a satisfying, well-paid and secure job while dedicating their lives and contributing to the well-being of others.

BSc Nursing Course Details: Overview

There are many nursing schools in India that offer Bachelor of Science in Nursing after completion of 12and Board reviews. Aspirants who have studied science with core subjects, such as biology, physics and chemistry, in the (10+2) system, can pursue nursing studies to specialize in a range of nursing fields, such as the following:

Alternatively, candidates can also choose to pursue a post-basic BSc nursing degree – a 2-year program which aims to train and help students develop nursing skills for a career as a nurse, superintendent nurse, etc However, to pursue post-basic BSc Nursing studies, it is compulsory for all to first complete training under the 3-year General Nursing Midwifery (GNM) degree in one of the following areas:

  • Orthopedic nursing
  • Oncology Nursing
  • Community Health Nursing
  • Neurological and Neurosurgical Nursing
  • Psychiatric nursing
  • Tuberculosis nursing
  • Leprosy nursing
  • Nursing in ophthalmology
  • OT techniques

The BSc Nursing and Post-basic BSc Nursing degrees are recognized by the Indian Nursing Council (INC).

BSc Nursing Course: 4 Year Program

The BSc Nursing program is divided into a 4-year program that begins with the fundamentals of nursing and ends with imparting practical knowledge based on industry standards. Details of the BSc Nursing program for each year are shown below:

BSc Nursing Course Syllabus Subjects included
1st Year ● Anatomy

● Physiology

● Biochemistry

● Nutrition & Dietetics
2n/a Year ● Medical-Surgical Nursing

● Psychiatric nursing care

● Health Education

● EO techniques

● Advanced procedures

● Microbiology
3rd Year ● Maternal and child health

● Public Health Infirmary and Health Administration

● Nursing trends and professional adjustments

● Sociology and social medicine
4and Year ● Introduction to research and statistics

● Principles of nursing services, administration and supervision

● Midwifery and midwifery nursing

● English or any other foreign language

Eligibility Criteria for Bachelor of Science in Nursing

Aspirants planning to pursue nursing studies after 12 yearsand The score must refer to the eligibility criteria defined by the INC below:

  • Applicant must be 17 years of age at time of admission
  • Candidate must have passed 12and Grade with Physics, Chemistry, Biology as majors and English as an elective
  • Applicant must have achieved at least 50% overall marks in (10+2) from a recognized board or board (45% overall marks for applicants under booking quota – SC/ST/OBC)
  • Applicant must be in good health and physical condition

BSc Nursing Admission Process

Admission to BSc nursing programs is usually made on the basis of entrance exam scores and merit. While many leading medical and nursing institutes hold national entrance exams to gain admission for eligible students into a variety of specialty nursing courses, several other state colleges hold their own entrance exams. candidates.

After the entrance exams, the shortlisted candidates are called for counseling and finally, only the selected candidates are offered a place in their dream colleges.

Popular BSc Nursing Exams

The most popular entrance exams among students for admission to Bachelor of Science in Nursing are:

  • NEET
  • AIIMS
  • BHU
  • I DON T
  • MNS
  • AUTA
  • AJE

Most of these BSc Nursing exams are held once a year. Applicants should keep an eye out for the official notification of each of the exams to be able to submit their application on time.

Best BSc Nursing Colleges in India

Bachelor of Science in Nursing courses are offered at almost every public and private college in the country. The most important of the list are:

  • Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)
  • Lady Hardinge Medical College
  • Jamia Hamdard University
  • Pandit Bhagwan Dayal Sharma University of Health Sciences
  • G.D. Goenka University
  • George College of Management Science and Nursing
  • Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute
  • John Institute of Management and Science
  • Indian Academy Institute Group
  • Integral University
  • Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences
  • Hind Institute of Medical Sciences
  • Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research
  • NIMS University

BSc Nursing Fee Structure

The average course fees for admission to Bachelor of Science in Nursing in private colleges are relatively higher than in government colleges. This is one of the main reasons why many students aim for government nursing seats. Nevertheless, students should be aware that the average fees for the BSc Nursing course vary between INR 8,500 and INR 1.3Lakhs per year depending on college/university standards.

Job Prospects After Bachelor of Science in Nursing

The health sector in India is quite dynamic and constantly expanding. The demand for good, competent nurses is always on the rise. Therefore, it goes without saying that a Bachelor of Science in Nursing is sure to open up a lot of opportunities for the future.

Take a look at the list of professional roles one can pursue after BSc Nursing:

  • Auxiliary nurse
  • Junior psychiatric nurse
  • kindergarten nurse
  • industrial nurse
  • The nursing staff
  • nursing supervisor
  • military nurse
  • Community Health Nurse
  • Nursing teacher
  • Nurse and patient educator
  • Home care nurse
  • Nursing service administrators
  • psychiatric nurse
  • superintendent nurse
  • department supervisor
  • Assistant Superintendent Nurse
  • Director of Nursing

There are many career development opportunities in the field of nursing. If you have the dedication and the will to train hard, you can achieve what you desire. Currently, the average salary for BSc nursing professionals in India ranges from INR 3 Lakhs to INR 7.5 Lakhs per year.

For more information on the scope of BSc Nursing Abroad, stay tuned to CollegeDekho!

Senate Health Committee Introduces Bill to Study COVID Nursing Home Deaths – The Legislative Gazette

Chelsey W. Vogt
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Photo from the Legislative Gazette

The Senate Health Committee has passed a bill that would create a temporary state commission with subpoena power to investigate the more than 15,000 deaths of nursing home residents in the state of New York during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The law project (S.8285), sponsored by Sen. James Tedisco, R-Glenville, left the Senate Health Committee on April 26 and now resides on the Finance Committee. Legislation is sponsored in the Assembly (A.3162) by Ron Kim, D-Queens.

If the bill becomes law, the bipartisan commission to investigate nursing home deaths would consist of five members: one appointed by the Senate Majority Leader, one Senate Minority Leader, one Speaker of the Assembly and a Minority Leader in the Assembly, and chaired by a person appointed by the New York State Attorney General.

Each appointee would be required to have expertise in health care and health care policy. The members of the Commission would not be paid and they would have the power of subpoena. A report would be publicly released and sent to the Legislative Assembly with findings and recommendations for the future.

“We remember that each life lost was more than just a statistic, these people were someone’s spouse, parents, grandparents and siblings and they deserve justice,” Tedisco said. “I appreciate that members of the Senate Health Committee passed my bill for an independent, bipartisan investigation … into the deaths of thousands of New Yorkers in our nursing homes.”

Tedisco calls on his colleagues on the Senate Finance Committee to move the bill forward and on Senate leadership to bring this measure to the Senate for debate and a top-down vote “so that we can get answers for the families who have lost loved ones in state-regulated nursing homes,” he said.

The commission created by this legislation would be funded from the existing state budget for investigators. A report to the Legislative Assembly of findings and recommendations for the future would be released by November 30.

Tedisco and Kim say the bill is an effort at “true bipartisanship,” a relative rarity in politics today. A record of the Health Committee votes for the bill shows this to be true. Although the bill has a Democratic co-sponsor in the Senate – Senator Julia Salazar – of the 13 senators who voted “yes”, four of them are Democrats and four others voted “yes with reservations”.

The only “no” was voiced by Senate Health Committee Chairman Gustavo Rivera.

The bill’s memo states, “This legislation will remove the policy of getting to the bottom of this terrible tragedy because this investigation would be overseen by bipartisan individuals appointed by both houses of the Legislative Assembly.”

Photo from the Legislative Gazette

Earlier this session, Tedisco, Kim and other lawmakers held a rally with the families of the victims on the lawn of the state Capitol to remember those who died in nursing homes during the pandemic.

The group advocates for a bill (S.8217/A.9691), sponsored by Senator Robert Orrt and Assemblyman Kim, which would establish March 25 each year as “We Care Remembrance Day”. This day would honor nursing home residents who have lost their lives to COVID-19.

The bills are a response to former Governor Andrew Cuomo’s decision to release an executive Ordered on March 25, 2020 which forced forced nursing homes to admit inpatients discharged from hospital who were infected with COVID-19. Many believe that order was directly responsible for the overwhelming number of COVID-19-related deaths in nursing homes under Cuomo’s administration.

“We think it’s important to recognize that the March 25 Executive Order was one of the biggest mistakes the state has made in sending COVID patients to unprepared nursing homes,” the MP said. Kim. “We want families to understand that we care, that we want to acknowledge mistakes and that we want to improve and that’s how we can honor them.”

“The state has dramatically underreported nursing home deaths,” said Senator Sue Serino. “Notice my words, we will never forget. It is never too late to do well.”

Supporters, like Vivian Zayas, the founder of Voices for Seniorsalso spoke.

“Today and every day is a day of remembrance. It is our responsibility to ensure that every senior in every state is treated with dignity and love,” Zayas said.

“We never know when this pandemic is going to happen again like it has in the past,” Tedisco said. “We know that in the future it’s likely to come back and that’s why it’s so important to understand the real science behind the disease and what this governor and this commissioner in the past did wrong and what they did well.”

Caleb Guerrido is a senior at SUNY New Paltz majoring in journalism. He wants to become a sports broadcaster/podcaster and eventually own his own podcasting network. In his spare time, Caleb enjoys listening to and creating podcasts, hanging out with friends, and making money moves.

‘What motivates me is taking care of people:’ Pandemic healthcare burnout not deterring nursing students

Chelsey W. Vogt
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Becoming a nurse was not something Tayla Germsheid always dreamed of doing.

Her original plan was dentistry, but when her passion changed, she shifted her focus to health care.

“I decided to go into nursing because I’ve always had a big heart and always cared deeply about people in a good way and thought nursing would be the perfect way to show how much heart I have,” Germshied said. mentioned.

Read more:

1 in 3 healthcare workers in British Columbia say they want to quit in the next 2 years

As Germsheid completes her second year of nursing studies at the University of Saskatchewan, she is convinced this is the right choice for her and her timing couldn’t be better.

“They got to see a lot more health care than some students in other years,” said Michelle Patterson, clinical coordinator at the USask College of Nursing.

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Staffing shortages in health care throughout the pandemic have made the role of nursing students even more crucial.

According to Statistics Canada, the country has added more than 10,000 nursing vacancies during the pandemic, an increase of 75%.

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“Nursing students provide so much extra patient care that they have time to talk to patients,
said Patterson. “They’re just that extra helping hand.”

Becoming a nurse is not without challenges. With only 345 spots in the program at USask, the first hurdle is admission.

“We have about two people applying for every seat we have, so more applicants than we can allow into our program,” said USask College of Nursing Dean and Professor Sonila Richter.

Next year, the program adds 62 new seats. So, despite the burnout caused by the pandemic, this does not deter students from taking the program.

Industry enthusiasts will do it anyway.

“What motivates me is to take care of people in any way they need to and I put them on before I put myself on and sometimes that leads to burnout, but I think the reward is so much greater than the risk,” Germsheid said.

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Another Saskatchewan resident shares story of surgery delay in Legislative Assembly
Another Saskatchewan resident shares story of surgery delay in Legislative Assembly

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New York Democrats block investigation into COVID deaths at Cuomo’s nursing home, sponsors say

Chelsey W. Vogt
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Bipartisan legislation to investigate the impact of the ex-governor. Andrew Cuomo’s pandemic policies on the death toll in nursing homes from COVID-19 are bottled up in committee so that key lawmakers are not embroiled in the scandal, the measures’ sponsors told the Post on Monday.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that they want to delay this,” said Sen. Jim Tedisco (R-Schenectady).

“I think it affects them. And that touches on what they have done so far.

Tedisco noted that Democrats who control both houses of the Legislative Assembly “have never used a single subpoena in a hearing” and allowed former health commissioner Howard Zucker to “dance the whole the day” when asked about the state’s cover-up of nursing home deaths. .

Tedisco also suggested delaying his bill was an attempt to cover Cuomo, who resigned under threat of impeachment last year over sexual harassment allegations.

“They wanted to get rid of him because he was a disability, but I’m not sure they also wanted to let everyone know the extent of the things he was involved in that caused this loss of life. – the lies, the distortions”, he said.

State Sen. Jim Tedisco said the bill was on hold because it “affected” key state lawmakers.
Hans Pennink

Assemblyman Ron Kim (D-Queens), who is sponsoring a companion bill, said senior Democrats “have just come up with excuse after excuse.”

“At different times they’re giving me excuses about ‘Oh, there are federal investigations, we can’t open this until the federal investigation is complete. “”

But Kim, whose uncle died in a nursing home on suspicion of COVID-19, said he remained hopeful the measures would be approved before the scheduled June 2 end of the legislative session.

“It’s not a big request. We’re just asking to go back and investigate,” he said.

The plan would create a five-member commission with subpoena power and an expansive mandate to investigate matters that include “any increases in nursing home resident death rates attributable to COVID-19.”

Assemblyman Ron Kim accused senior Democrats of
Assemblyman Ron Kim accused senior Democrats of “causing excuse after excuse” to block the bill.
Hans Pennink

The blue ribbon panel “in health care and/or health policy” is also expected to report within a year of its first meeting.

Fox News senior meteorologist Janice Dean, whose in-laws both died of COVID-19 in nursing homes, said: ‘When a hurricane or blizzard hits New York, there’s always scrutiny. after action taken to try to learn from what happened. .”

“Why don’t we do the same for the over 15,000 elderly people who have been taken from us? she says.

“If lawmakers don’t look carefully at what happened and why our leaders have tried so hard to cover it up, they will all have blood on their hands.”

Fox News senior meteorologist Janice Dean called for a
Fox News senior meteorologist Janice Dean has called for an “after action review” on nursing home deaths from COVID-19.
Hans Pennink

Critics have accused Cuomo’s administration of fueling the nursing home death toll by initially forcing facilities to accept “medically stable” COVID-19 patients discharged from hospitals.

In March, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli also said an audit found the Department of Health had intentionally “misled the public” by omitting at least 4,100 hospital deaths from its tally of deaths. deaths in nursing homes.

As of April 30, the official death toll from COVID-19 among nursing home residents was 15,438, according to the DOH.

A spokesman for state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins ​​(D-Yonkers) said Tedisco’s bill “has been passed” from the health committee to the health committee. finances last week “and we continue to discuss”.

An audit by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli of the Department of Health
An audit by state comptroller Thomas DiNapoli of the Department of Health ‘mislead the public’ by omitting at least 4,100 hospital deaths.
AP Photo/John Minchillo, File

A representative for Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-The Bronx) did not return a request for comment.

But a spokesperson said Governor Kathy Hochul “has put in place several critical policies to protect nursing home residents from COVID-19, including increasing access to callbacks, bolstering staff with a guard national medically trained, requiring high-quality masks and testing for visitors and providing access to [personal protective equipment].”

“Under the governor’s leadership, our administration has explored a pandemic response review, and we will continue to work with the legislature and advocates on these priorities,” spokeswoman Hazel Crampton-Hays added.

Of the legislation, Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi said, “The most dangerous place in America is between Jim Tedisco and a microphone. All politics, no shame. “

Senate approves Bollin’s healthcare worker shortage plan

Chelsey W. Vogt
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May 2, 2022

By Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com

A plan sponsored by a local lawmaker to help address staffing shortages in the health care sector will soon be on its way to the governor’s desk for eventual signing.

State Representative Ann Bollin’s measure is said to make it easier for those who have pledged to serve as direct caregivers in nursing facilities during the pandemic to become certified practical nurses.

He received unanimous support in the Senate and overwhelming bipartisan support in the House.

The Brighton Township Republican said in a statement that during the pandemic, temporary care workers have stepped up to serve the public and racked up many hours of invaluable on-the-job training. She said the vital work they have done on the frontlines of the pandemic should count towards their nursing assistant certifications and help to continue to advance their careers.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services waived requirements that health care aides must be certified to work in a nursing facility for longer than four months.

Michigan used the waiver to bring more than 2,000 workers into long-term care facilities to address critical labor shortages. Temporary aides worked primarily as caregivers providing necessary care and services usually provided by certified nursing aides (CNAs).

Bollin’s measure, House Bill 5089, ensures that hours worked as a temporary helper during the pandemic will count toward the 75-hour training requirement to become a CNA. It also includes an online training option and an online skills assessment.

WellBridge Group CEO Michael Perry, which operates skilled nursing facilities in Livingston County, said the reform was needed. He said their company and others have seized the opportunity to bring these enthusiastic and dedicated caregivers to their facilities.

A press release is attached.

CQC assesses Great Wheatley Nursing Home in Rayleigh

Chelsey W. Vogt
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A RAYLEIGH care home has been criticized for poor Covid-19 safety standards following an inspection.

Great Wheatley Nursing Home has been rated in need of improvement as the second of four rating levels by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

In a recently published report, inspectors from the national health care watchdog found that “government infection control guidelines were not always followed”.

The home, which was caring for 17 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection, has been told to improve Covid safety.

Inspectors found that not all staff knew how long visitors had to wait for the result of a lateral flow test.

“This could put staff and visitors at risk of contracting infectious diseases, including Covid-19,” the report said.

He continued: “Where the status of the Covid-19 vaccine had to be checked, there was no evidence that it had been done.”

However, the house was praised for its cleanliness and staff are said to have used personal protective equipment [PPE] properly.

The house was also criticized for leaving a user bedridden despite a physiotherapy exam indicating he had to walk daily.

Care home users would also have been left without access to any organized activities.

The registered manager told the inspectors that there had been an activities coordinator but that they left after a few weeks.

One parent said: “It doesn’t look like much is going on. I took a radio to [person] because they can’t see the TV clearly.

Another told inspectors: “A few months ago there were notices showing listings of activity, but they’ve disappeared now, and I don’t know of any activity.”

CQC inspectors reported that the care home was well staffed, with a “qualified and experienced” team.

The relatives with whom the inspectors spoke were satisfied with the care and treatment received.

One person told the CQC: “The staff are lovely, they spend as much time as possible with you. I wouldn’t know what to do without them.

The report states: “Privacy and dignity of individuals were respected. Staff made sure to close doors and draw privacy curtains when providing personal care to people.

The Echo has contacted the nursing home for comment.

Canada’s healthcare system is collapsing at the worst possible time

Chelsey W. Vogt
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A man wears a protective face mask as he walks past the emergency department at the Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster, British Columbia in 2020. One in five people in British Columbia do not have a family doctor.JONATHAN HAYWARD/The Canadian Press

For several months now, British Columbia Premier John Horgan has used his position as President of the Council of the Federation to draw attention to the urgent need for a new federal-provincial revenue-sharing model. for health care.

At times, Mr. Horgan seemed almost desperate, as if increasing health care dollars was a matter of life and death in his province. The fact is he is, and the distress in his voice is real.

The health care system in British Columbia is collapsing. It’s in a sorry state in other parts of the country, too, as more baby boomers head into retirement where they’re likely to need the services of medical professionals — not enough of them to the moment.

Mr. Horgan’s frustration was evident this week during question period. Fed up with the heckling from the Liberal opposition about the deplorable health conditions in the province, he dismissed them with a swear word for which he would later apologize.

Mr. Horgan knows he has a problem on his hand. And it’s not just him. Several of his provincial counterparts are struggling with the same problem. In this case, the statistics do not lie.

Nearly 900,000 British Columbians don’t have a family doctor, leaving walk-in clinics and emergency rooms flooded

One of the biggest problems facing these provinces is the severe shortage of family physicians. One in five people in British Columbia don’t have one, and more people are pouring into the province every day. Last year, 100,000 people arrived – a record number that only exacerbated a desperate situation.

BC Liberal MP Shirley Bond pointed out that one day this week almost every emergency and primary care center in the city of Victoria was at capacity and not accepting patients. The only one that had a 4.5 hour wait.

British Columbia currently has the longest average wait time for walk-in clinics in the country at 58 minutes. The typical wait time in Canada is 25 minutes. In Victoria, it’s 161 minutes.

The environment isn’t much better next door in Alberta, which has lost 188 registered physicians in the past three months. Some have retired, while others have moved on to greener pastures. The city of Lethbridge has lost 13 doctors over the same three-month period – and a net 62 over the past two years. Nearly half of the city of 100,000 (43,000) is without a doctor.

According to the Canadian Resident Matching Service, the portal used by graduating medical students to find jobs, there were 1,569 family medicine positions available across the country in 2022. According to Statistics Canada, 4.6 million more people 12 year olds did not have a family doctor in 2019.

Part of the problem is that graduating medical students don’t want to go into family medicine. The biggest problem is the payment model used by most provinces whereby physicians are paid a flat fee per visit – fees, they say, that do not take into account the length of the appointment or the complexity of the issues. problems a patient might have.

The shortage of doctors is a problem that has worsened over the years. Canada now ranks 51st in the number of doctors per population, according to the Index Mundi. In the 1970s, we ranked between fourth and eighth place. The shortage of nurses in Canada is equally serious.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development ranked Canada 31st in the number of hospital beds per capita among the 38 countries ranked by the OECD. Meanwhile, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, total healthcare spending in the country was estimated at $308 billion in 2021, or $8,019 per Canadian. This figure represents 12.7% of our GDP, which places our health care expenditure among the highest in the world.

We certainly didn’t feel like we got our money’s worth.

Something is wrong, as others have noted over the years. We have a universal health care system that is administered by 10 provinces and three territories, and which is anything but universal when it comes to quality of care. The extent to which healthcare dollars are wasted or mis-spent is staggering.

While I have some sympathy for Mr. Horgan’s position, I also hear the concerns of a federal government that hands out billions of dollars in funding with little or no control over how it is spent.

Canada, as a country, has a terrible reputation for the efficiency of its health care system – even if it’s the fault of individual provinces that don’t know what they’re doing. Now everything goes home to roost.

This system is collapsing just when aging demographics and rising levels of immigration are putting more pressure on it than ever before. We will soon have an emergency on our hands, if we haven’t already.

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Alaska Pacific University’s nursing program receives accreditation as demand for healthcare workers soars

Chelsey W. Vogt
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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) — This weekend, Alaska Pacific University will see 16 students graduate from its nursing programs for the first time in school history.

“It means a lot, to become a guinea pig,” said nursing student Lillian Xiong. “It’s exciting to know that we’re the first to start this, and we’re setting the tone for many more classes and years to come.”

In March, the university received accreditation from the Accreditation Commission for Nursing Education for its associate and licensure programs in nursing.

Director of Alaska Pacific’s new nursing programs, Marianne Murray, said accreditation is important because it allows students to pass a licensing exam and earn a state license.

“We’re trying to create a pathway or a ladder — stepping stones on the path to nursing,” Murray said.

The accreditation comes as the statewide and nationwide health care industry desperately seeks to fill thousands of positions. Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association President and CEO Jared Kosin said Alaska has more than 6,000 healthcare vacancies each year and a need for more than 1,400 nurses. allowed.

“That’s exactly what we need with the type of vacuum we have,” Kosin said. “…It’s a big moment in terms of momentum, and I think we all need to look at that to try to figure out how we can build other programs around other services.”

Alaska Pacific University’s nursing degree programs are a partnership with the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, and the school said its degrees emphasize Native lifestyles.

“I am thrilled to be an Alaska Native nurse working at the Alaska Native Hospital,” said Jolean Fultz. “And I hope many more Alaska Natives will follow.”

Many graduates told Alaska’s News Source that they either had jobs or job offers. The university announced that five students would begin a nursing degree program at Utqiagvik in the fall, and said it was also working on a program at Bethel.

Copyright 2022 KTUU. All rights reserved.

More frequent dialysis in skilled nursing facilities shortens recovery time: study – Clinical Daily News

Chelsey W. Vogt
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More frequent and shorter dialysis sessions reduced recovery time to an hour or less in 80% of nursing home residents with end-stage kidney disease, a new study has found.

Dialysis recovery can include fatigue and weakness, and has been known to last up to six hours after a conventional three-treatment-a-week approach. But little is known about dialysis recovery time among nursing home residents, the investigators noted.

In the current study, more than 2,000 residents from 154 nursing facilities in 12 states reported their dialysis recovery times onsite. Relatively rapid recovery was seen in those who received five treatments in the previous week (totaling a minimum of 14 hours per week), with 92% of qualified study participants reporting recovery from treatment within two hours or less.

Study participants who had a pre-hemodialysis systolic blood pressure of 160 to 179 mmHg also had relatively fast recovery times. Additionally, rapid recovery was associated with reduced mortality or hospitalizations, the researchers added.

Patients were less likely to recover quickly if they were older, had missed previous treatment, or had complications from dialytic hypotension, they wrote.

Advantages of nursing home dialysis

The nursing home environment has advantages over the home environment for dialysis, the researchers noted. Discretionary fluid and salt consumption can be relatively limited in establishments, resulting in fewer fluid disposal requirements. A lower fluid removal requirement with more frequent dialysis may provide “smoother” dialysis, also contributing to a shorter recovery time, they concluded.

Shorter recovery time may also allow for greater preparation for nursing home activities such as rehabilitation therapy, they noted.

The researchers said they would next investigate the “practical ramifications” of rapid dialysis recovery time on residents’ perceptions of nursing home rehabilitation programs.

The survey was conducted by researchers from Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Mount Sinai Icahn School of Medicine in New York, and nursing home dialysis provider Dialyze Direct.

The full results have been published in the journal International Hemodialysis.

Related Articles:

Experts propose a new framework for dialysis decisions in the elderly

Post-Acute Care Provider Launches Comprehensive Kidney Disease Program

Family of former nursing home resident allege poor conditions at Owensboro facility

Chelsey W. Vogt
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OWENSBORO, Ky. (WEHT) The family of a former Owensboro nursing home resident fined by the state describe what their loved one went through until she moved out the year last.

“My mother is a very dynamic, very outspoken and active person,” said Lisa McQuilkin, describing her mother, Hazel, who lived in what used to be called the Owensboro Center on Leitchfield Road, but the facility has changed its name. last year for Chautauqua Health. and Rehabilitation after a change of ownership.

“In her youth, she was a CNA and she has already worked in this establishment”, she recalls.

But she and Peggy Smallwood, Hazel’s guardian, claim there were disgusting conditions in the wing she was in, she was not given medication and was attacked by another resident during of an incident.

“I was getting phone calls from the nurse in charge of whatever ward she was on, and she was going, we just wanted to let you know your mum was not the instigator of this.” And I was going, ‘What are you talking about?’ “A resident got up and slapped my mom in the face and knocked her off the chair,” Mcquilkin recalled.

She says her mother’s behavior has started to change. She moved her mother last May and moved to another facility near where McQuilkin lives in northern Illinois. She also said her mother’s health improved after she moved.

“It bothered me, having to worry about Hazel, and there was nothing I could do except talk to these people,” Smallwood said.

Chautauqua was fined one hundred thousand dollars after being cited by the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services for violations ranging from failure to ensure the dignity of all residents and aggressive behavior by a few residents against others. ClearView Healthcare officially took over from previous owner, Genesis Healthcare last summer, and after McQuilkin moved out his mother.

In a letter to residents and families earlier this month, Chautauqua officials said they had hired more staff, undergone more training and that the incidents cited during this inspection occurred before parent company Clearview. don’t take over.

In a statement, ClearView Healthcare officials say they recognize there were historical concerns, but residents and staff say things have improved.

A Genesis spokesperson declined to comment and referred us to the establishment’s current owner.

(This story was originally published on April 27, 2022)

Midwives in your health care

Chelsey W. Vogt
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When I was 14, I had menstrual health issues. My cramps were so intense that I would have double the pain, and it made school incredibly difficult while I was on my period. My mom didn’t know how to talk about something like that, so she took me to see someone she knew could talk about such a personal health issue, a midwife.

The midwife listened to the symptoms I was experiencing and together we came up with a plan to help stabilize my period. The midwife defended me and really listened to me. It was a pivotal moment for me and one of the reasons I chose to become a midwife; provide a safe place where women can talk about their health needs without fear or judgement.

What is a midwife?

When you look at the etymology of the word midwife, it literally means “with a woman”. Midwives support women at all stages of their lives, whether it’s helping a young teenager with period problems, a woman’s annual pap smear, postpartum or transitioning from menopause. You don’t need to jump from provider to provider instead have one consistent throughout your life. A midwife can help educate in depth about menstrual pain, infertility, pregnancy, labor and delivery, cysts and fibroids, dryness and more.

Differences between a midwife and an OB/GYN

While midwives and OB/GYN providers focus on women’s health care, they differ in a few ways. First, the medical training required is different. An OB/GYN is a doctor who goes through medical school, surgical residency, and then chooses OB/GYN as their goal. Midwives receive their nursing degree and spend a few years in the nursing field, then return to school for a master’s degree in nurse midwifery.

Another major difference is that OB/GYN providers can perform surgeries. Although midwives cannot, they have partnerships with those who can perform surgeries.

The role of a midwife

The unique role of a midwife is to be a chameleon for our patients. Whether you are going through puberty, pregnancy, perimenopause or menopause, a woman’s health has complex needs that a midwife can help manage and manage.

During puberty and adulthood

Midwives can provide basic care from the start. Many common reasons teens and young adults see a midwife are menstrual pain and issues, yeast infections, ultrasounds, checkups, pap smears, and other regular screenings.

Midwives also review family history and help develop a plan of care if there is anything we decide to watch out for. Midwives are also a great place to start if you notice changes and aren’t sure what’s going on or where to get help.

It is also very common for a woman to come forward when she decides she wants to have a child. Midwives help create a plan, educate about pregnancy, labor and delivery, and postpartum. And when she becomes pregnant, she can continue to see the same provider.

During pregnancy

When you find out you are pregnant, you can see an obstetrician/gynecologist or a midwife depending on which is best for you. There are many misconceptions about the role of a midwife, such as a midwife who only gives birth at home or who only promotes birth without medication. It’s not true at all. It doesn’t matter if you want to be completely drug-free or if you want to be induced and have an epidural – we’re here for you all the time.

It’s also a common misconception that if you need a C-section, you can’t see a midwife. Although midwives do not perform surgeries, we work and have partnerships with providers who do. So if you know you’re going to have another C-section, we’ll be here for you for all your pregnancy health care needs and we’ll be there for you during surgery explaining what’s going on and advocating for you. the weather.

Another aspect of a woman’s health related to pregnancy is postpartum depression. Your hormones are on a roller coaster during pregnancy and after labor and delivery. Hormonal change can be a very strong and drastic experience. Screening for postpartum depression begins during pregnancy, directly after delivery, and throughout the first year after birth. These screenings are one of the many tools we use to help monitor and care for new moms. We work hard to ensure that when you come to see your midwife, you feel safe and supported. Some things we encourage to help with postpartum depression are:

  • Socialize with friends and family
  • To go out
  • Eat nutritious foods
  • Stay hydrated
  • Seeking Behavioral Health Support
  • Request help from the support system
  • Breastfeed if possible

These postpartum visits are extremely important. During pregnancy, you might see your midwife between 10 and 14 times. After giving birth, you may only see your provider a handful of times, but that’s when you really need support. This is why it is so important to maintain this relationship with the midwife. If my patient needs me, I’m there. We all need a little extra help sometimes. This is completely normal.

During perimenopause and menopause

There are many changes in a woman’s body as she ages. Perimenopause is the period during which a woman’s body goes through menopause. This transition often begins in the 40s but can begin earlier. During this stage of life, there is a strong emphasis on education and symptom management.

A common thing during this stage of life is incontinence, especially around 10 to 15 years after having your last child. The ligaments and tendons that held the bladder together were pushed down. After a simple pelvic exam, we can recommend therapy focused on strengthening your pelvic floor muscles. There are also specific surgeries that we can discuss.

The most important thing to remember is that you are not alone. Postpartum depression, incontinence, bone loss, and all other things that are unique to a woman’s health are real and natural occurrences, and we have the education and therapies to help our patients live their best. life.

Kaleida Health wanted to sell HighPointe nursing home – then Covid happened | Business premises

Chelsey W. Vogt
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It was February 2020 when Jody Lomeo, then CEO of Kaleida Health, informed employees that the health system would be putting its HighPointe long-term care facility in Michigan up for sale.

A month later, the Covid-19 pandemic began, with nursing homes among the first establishments to feel the effects. Most healthcare business strategies – in Kaleida and beyond – have been temporarily put on the back burner as doctors, nurses and support staff rush to respond to the kind of health crisis that hasn’t unfolded. not produced for 100 years.




HighPointe-1 (copy)

Kaleida Health’s HighPointe on Michigan long-term care facility was fined $40,000 by the state health department for Covid-19 testing and temperature screening procedures.


Marc Mulville



Two years later, efforts to sell HighPointe remain on hold due to Covid-19, said Michael P. Hughes, senior vice president and chief administrative officer of Kaleida.

Asked for further comment, Hughes replied, “Not much to say. Everything is pending.”

But that doesn’t mean we can’t talk about it.

People also read…

Let’s start by exploring the reasons cited by Lomeo in his note to employees – at a time when no one knew that Covid-19 would dominate our daily lives for the next two years. Lomeo, who stepped down as CEO in late 2020, said at the time that long-term care accounted for less than 3% of Kaleida’s overall revenue. Further, he noted that long-term care represents “a significant financial, legal and risk burden” that is not justified by the benefits for Kaleida.

Kaleida therefore sought a buyer who focused on retirement homes as a core business. Then Covid-19 hit.

The News’ Buffalo Next team covers the changing economy of Buffalo Niagara. Get news delivered to your inbox 5 days a week.

Kaleida opened the $64 million HighPointe, between High and East North streets at the east end of the city’s medical corridor, in December 2011, the first urban nursing home built in Buffalo in decades. With 300 beds, it remains one of the largest nursing homes in the region.

By the time Kaleida announced plans to sell HighPointe, the 9-year-old facility had racked up $80 million in losses.

In 2018, for example, the facility recorded a loss of $3.4 million on net patient revenues of $41.4 million, according to cost reports filed with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Its performance was worse in 2017: a loss of $5.2 million on net patient income of $39.8 million.

Although more recent federal figures were not readily available, few nursing homes have emerged in better financial shape from the pandemic.

A common complaint: Long-term care facilities say the state’s Medicaid program, which covers nearly 75% of care days provided in nursing homes, has consistently had stagnant reimbursement rates, which makes it difficult to operate profitably as costs rise rapidly.

The recently signed state budget includes a 1% blanket increase in Medicaid rates, less than nursing home professional groups had hoped.

Some of this “legal and risk burden” that Lomeo refers to is evident in the past fines the facility has collected.

In November 2019, for example, the state attorney general slapped Kaleida with a $500,000 fine in a settlement that criticized the care of 16-month-old Jameir Benn — who died in HighPointe in February 2015 — and called falsified records for 56-year-old Larry Myers, who died there in January 2014. Myers’ case ended with 17 workers convicted of falsifying records or other crimes.

Following these two incidents, Kaleida invested $12 million in staffing and improving the quality of care, the system said at the time.

Just recently, HighPointe was hit with a $40,000 fine by the state health department over lapses in the frequency of Covid-19 testing and missed temperature checks of some employees – issues uncovered during of an unannounced state inspection in May 2021.

“While we have complied with and paid the fine, we remain confident that HighPointe’s record on Michigan during the pandemic stands out among the best for any long-term care facility in Western New York,” said said Hughes.

Hughes’ comment holds up, according to state and federal data, which shows HighPointe had one of the lowest rates of Covid-19 cases and deaths per 1,000 population.

State data shows nine HighPointe residents have died of Covid-19 as of April 20. In the roughly 35 Erie County nursing homes according to state data, 1,033 residents have died from the virus.

If Kaleida, a non-profit organization, does sell HighPointe at some point, it will be part of the current trend of nursing homes being reclaimed over the past five years.

In fact, more than 3,200 nursing homes were sold across the country from 2016 to 2021, according to recently released federal data. This equates to approximately 40 out of every 1,000 nursing homes sold each year.

Compare that with hospitals: only 348 hospital sales during this period, or about 10 per 1,000 hospitals each year.

Breaking down the data further, more than 80 retirement homes were sold in New York City from 2016 to 2021. And, clearly, the pandemic has chilled deal-making: only six of those deals went into effect after March 1, 2020. .

Some have complained of a slow approval process at the state health department. In fact, the negotiators behind the planned $47 million sale of the Weinberg campus to Amherst said a pandemic-delayed state approvals process killed that deal.

Time will tell if Kaleida begins to actively buy HighPointe again.

Want to know more? Three stories to catch up with you:

• Kaleida seeks buyer for HighPointe in bid to cut costs and stem bleeding

• Kaleida’s HighPointe nursing home fined $40,000 for Covid-19 violations

• No deal: $47 million sale of Weinberg campus to Elderwood operators terminated

Welcome to Buffalo Next. This newsletter from The Buffalo News will bring you the latest coverage on the changing economy of Buffalo Niagara – from real estate to healthcare to startups. Learn more at BuffaloNext.com.

THE LAST

Find out about news related to Buffalo Niagara’s economy:

A new A four-story, $2.5 million self-storage facility with 164 rental storage units is proposed for 321 Commerce Drive in Amherst by landscape contractors Eric Bogart and Michael Sinatra.

M&T Bank is halfway to hiring 1,000 technologists in the Buffalo areaan ambitious goal set three years ago, just before making the Seneca One tower the place where the bank would establish its “technology hub”.

Dr. Todd Shatkin and Daemen University Seek Nearly $394,000 in Sales Tax Relief for the $7.85 million project to develop a new dental school and physical rehabilitation center on the Amherst campus.

About a month after a deal was announced and weeks after the state approved a budget that included funding, Erie County Legislature to finally begin talks on Buffalo Bills Stadium deal this week.

Empire State Development prioritizes efforts to work with local regions seize new investment and employment opportunities by building the skills of their workforce and helping communities gather more shovel-ready land for new projects.

Interest rates are on the riseand consumers are grappling with higher mortgage payments and higher credit card rates, as well as higher prices at the store and for gas.

start The Real Talk Team Won First Place at University in Buffalo’s Henry A. Panasci Jr. Tech Entrepreneurship Competitionwhich earned him $25,000 in seed funding and $30,000 in in-kind services for the educational platform that helps organizations pursue diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace.

Fattey Beer Co. will open in three more locations, including one in Kenmore and additional stores in the Strong National Museum of Play’s Neighborhood of Play in Rochester and in Westerville, Ohio, near Columbus. There are five craft brewery and beer shop hybrids in the area.

LCB Capital hopes to bring a new five-story building with 44 market-priced apartments to Delaware Avenue in Allentown. The Kenmore-headquartered real estate company already owns eight residential and commercial properties in Buffalo and Kenmore.

For the first time in over a decade, mortgage rates hit 5% – from 3.1% in December – driving up the cost of buying a homewhich could lead to slower sales and more modest increases in house prices, according to M&T Bank’s chief financial officer.

Buffalo Next reporters Jonathan D. Epstein, Jon Harris, Natalie Brophy and Janet Gramza contributed to this roundup.

ICYMI

Five reads from Buffalo Next:

1. Some companies, such as Independent Health and Freed Maxick, are embracing “hoteling”, where remote employees book a workstation for the days when they come to the office to do their job, rather than having their own dedicated desk.

2. Build a New Buffalo Bills Stadium expected to create 10,000 local jobs for construction workersbut some contractors feel left out due to the stadium pact, including plans for a project labor agreement that requires contractors to pay prevailing wages.

3. The remarkable revival of the house of Bethlehem Steel: With a handful of new developments, and more on the way, the gated Bethlehem Steel complex is becoming a sign of renewal.

4. For WNY workers, experience really pays off: Experienced workers in Western New York earn more than twice as much, on average, as entry-level employees.

5. M&T Bank pledges $300,000 to EforAll entrepreneurship program in Buffalo: EforAll, which opened an office in Buffalo in May 2021, is a national nonprofit organization that helps people from underrepresented communities start and grow their own businesses.

The Buffalo Next team gives you insight into the economic revitalization of the region. Email tips to buffalonext@buffnews.com or contact Associate Business Editor David Robinson at 716-849-4435. Want to talk about health? Contact Jon Harris at jharris@buffnews.com or 716-849-3482.

Email tips to buffalonext@buffnews.com.

Nursing course vacancy rate drops to 2.3% in 2022 from 64% last year | Bombay News

Chelsey W. Vogt
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0

Mumbai: After being ignored for several years, nursing courses have regained their popularity among students. According to the statistics shared by the Common Entrance Testing Cell (CET) of Maharashtra State, the vacancy for nursing stands at just 2.3% this year.

Significant difference from last year, when almost 64% of seats remained vacant after four rounds of admission before the CET cell allowed colleges to fill seats at the institute level.

While this drop in vacancies is welcomed by many, nursing school principals are still skeptical and believe it could be temporary.

“Admissions to medical and dental courses started very late this year, and several low-scoring students knew they would fail to gain admission to medical schools, so it is possible that these students opted for nursing courses as a temporary solution. It is possible that these students will re-sit the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET-UG) next year and give up these places in nursing schools,” said the principal of a nursing school. nurses at Latur.

For years, nursing schools have been experiencing a decline in demand. Statistics shared by the state’s CET cell show that in nursing, the seat vacancy rate was 56% in 2016-17, 42% in 2017-18 and 32.5% in 2019-20 .

“In recent years, admissions to all paramedical and other courses in Maharashtra including Bachelors in Ayurveda, Physiotherapy, Nursing, etc. are only held after medical and dental course admissions are completed. It even leaves interested students racing to secure places at institutes in other states instead of Maharashtra,” said Dr. Ramling Mali, a member of the Indian Nursing Council and former chairman of the Maharashtra Nursing Council.

Admissions to MBBS and BDS courses for the 2021-22 academic year began in January this year, after a four-month delay. This meant that admissions to related courses including nursing, physiotherapy, ayurveda etc. did not start until February. This, experts say, needs to change in order to bring the nursing profession on par with other allied health courses.

Covid-19 has pushed the need for medical professionals to a new high in medical institutions across the country this year. At the height of the fight against Covid-19 last year, Maharashtra called for nurses to be brought in from Kerala to help in government hospitals. Experts said the nursing shortage occurred after years of underpayment of nurses at several hospitals across the state.

“Anyone who has spent three or four years, especially in the hope of entering a noble profession, expects a decent salary. But several retirement homes in Maharashtra do not pay more than ₹8,000 to 10,000 per month to nurses. Even the good ones make more money,” added Mali. He said that over the years, more and more nursing students have moved to other states or countries in the Middle East in the hope of better pay.

While filling vacancies is part of the problem, filling seats with eligible candidates is also an important factor that some experts believe nursing colleges have failed to keep up with this year. Many fear that this low seat vacancy is an “eye wash” when the real situation could be very different.

“According to the Indian Nursing Council, after the common admission rounds of CET, all colleges had to finish filling vacancies at the institute level by March 31. This was impossible as the CET cycles ended on March 28 and almost 35-40% seats were vacant in the colleges at that time,” said Dr Balasaheb Pawar, Chairman of Maharashtra Nursing Association.

He added that the association filed a petition with the Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court and was successful in having the admission deadline extended by a week, hoping to give students and colleges enough time to complete the admissions process. “Within a week, colleges now claim that they have managed to fill most of the vacancies, but I fear that in order to do so, many institutes have not followed the necessary eligibility criteria and admitted interested students, with or without the NEET brands,” Pawar added.

A student must pass the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) to be eligible for medical or paramedical courses. “By filling seats and failing to meet eligibility criteria, nursing schools are ruining the quality of education in the state, and unfortunately, the CET cell or the medical training department does not care about check those numbers,” Pawar added.

A state CET cell official has refuted claims that colleges do not meet eligibility criteria. “At the time of admissions, colleges must request documentation that includes NEET scores, without which a student’s admission is not confirmed. If there are any instances of foul play, people should come forward and complain to the cell and we will look into it,” the official said.


  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    Shreya Bhandary is a special correspondent covering higher education for the Hindustan Times, Mumbai. His job is to find flaws in the current education system and highlight the good and the bad in the institutes of higher learning in and around Mumbai.
    …See the details

Epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 infection in nursing facilities and impact of their clusters in a central Japanese city

Chelsey W. Vogt
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0

This article was originally published here

J Infect Chemother. April 13, 2022: S1341-321X(22)00119-2. doi: 10.1016/j.jiac.2022.04.010. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Nursing facilities are vulnerable to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) due to the congregate nature of their housing, advanced age of residents, and variety of chronic geriatric conditions. Little is known about the impact of the COVID-19 nursing facility on the local healthcare system.

METHODS: We collected data on COVID-19 cases in Nagasaki city from April 15, 2020 to June 30, 2021. We conducted universal screening of healthcare workers (HCWs) and users of healthcare facilities, once the first case of COVID-19 was detected at that facility. People living in the community were tested if they had symptoms or were suspected of having close contact with the positive cases. The epidemiological investigation for each case of COVID-19 was carried out by the public health officers of the local public health center.

RESULTS: Of 111,773 community-dwelling elderly (age ≥65 years) and 20,668 nursing facility users in Nagasaki City, we identified 358 and 71 cases of COVID-19, and 33 and 12 deaths by COVID-19, respectively, during the study period. The incidence rate ratios (IRRs) for COVID-19 and its deaths among nursing facility users were 1.07 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.82-1.39) and 1.97 (95% CI, 0.92-3.91) compared to community. elderly people who live. Four clusters, which had more than 10 COVID-19 cases, accounted for 60% (65/109) of all cases by healthcare workers and consumers.

CONCLUSIONS: Preventing COVID-19 clusters is important to reduce the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths among the nursing facility population.

PMID:35461770 | DOI:10.1016/j.jiac.2022.04.010

Lakeshore Technical College Healthcare Center Receives $1M Donation

Chelsey W. Vogt
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article

Rendering of the Lakeshore Technical College Health Care Center of Excellence (courtesy LTC)

CLEVELAND, Wis. – The Lakeshore Technical College Foundation on Friday announced a $1 million donation for the development of a new Center of Excellence in healthcare.

The donation is the largest in the foundation’s 46-year history and is part of a $5 million fundraising campaign for the new center, which is expected to open in 2023.

The center will be a 16,000 square foot addition and renovation to the existing Cleveland campus, benefiting the 1,500 students and health care and emergency service professionals who will train there each year.

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According to a press release, the center will meet growing demand for graduates of nursing, emergency medical technician (EMT), radiology, medical assistant, paramedic, firefighter and other programs. Lakeshore health care and public safety programs.

Seventy-nine percent of the $5 million campaign goal was met. Private fundraising will include $3 million, of which $2.38 million has been raised. Lakeshore Technical College will contribute $2 million.

$1 million donation to the Lakeshore Technical College Center for Health Care Excellence (Courtesy of LTC)

The $1 million donation comes from Froedtert Health Network & the Medical College of Wisconsin, Froedtert Holy Family Memorial Hospital and the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity.

There remain naming opportunities for bay and emergency entrance, teaching labs, simulation rooms, and classrooms. Additional information on the fundraising campaign is available at on the foundation’s website.

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Nursing home, limited hospital visits in six regions

Chelsey W. Vogt
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Visits to residents of care homes and patients in medical facilities have been restricted in six high-risk COVID-19 areas due to the rapid spread of the disease, the health and welfare minister said yesterday Chen Shih-chung (陳時中).

The restrictions were introduced in Keelung, Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Kaohsiung and Hualien County, with immediate effect, to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in hospitals and nursing homes, Chen said during the briefing. downtown daily in Taipei.

The six areas have been designated as high-risk areas for COVID-19 because they have recorded more new national COVID-19 cases than other areas since the beginning of this month, when the number of single-day cases increased. exceeded 100 for the first time this year, said Chen, who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times

Under the new restrictions, general visits are prohibited in high-risk areas except in special situations, including when a visit is deemed necessary by medical facilities or nursing homes, he said.

Exceptions include when a parent’s presence is required for someone undergoing surgery, an invasive test or treatment, or when a parent is needed to sign legal documents related to a medical procedure, he said. declared.

Visits may also be permitted when a patient is being treated in an emergency room, or an intensive care or palliative care unit, situations in which discussions with family members are considered essential, it said. -he declares.

It will be up to each hospital to decide whether such visits should be allowed, Chen said, adding that exceptions for visits to nursing homes would be determined by those facilities.

Although people are still allowed to visit hospital patients and nursing home residents in cities and counties outside the six high-risk areas, all visitors must show proof that they have received three COVID shots. -19 at least 14 days before their visit, Chen said.

People who have not received all three shots can present a negative COVID-19 test taken on the day of the visit, or show proof that they have had the disease and completed quarantine within the last three months, a he declared.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. The final decision will be at the discretion of The Taipei Times.

HighPointe Nursing Home in Kaleida fined $40,000 for Covid-19 violations | Business premises

Chelsey W. Vogt
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0

Kaleida Health’s HighPointe on Michigan nursing home in Buffalo has been hit with a $40,000 fine by the state health department over lapses in the frequency of Covid-19 testing and temperature checks missed by some employees.

The dollar amount of the fine is significant — tied for the 11th-largest fine imposed by the Department of Health on a nursing home in the past two decades, and in the top 1% of all penalties. It is also the second highest fine among Western New York long-term care facilities during this period.

The fine, issued on February 15 but recently published on the Department of Health’s online database, stems from an unannounced inspection focused on Covid-19 infection control on May 7, 2021, which found that HighPointe had failed to ensure that some employees who worked more than three days a week were tested for Covid-19 twice a week, as needed.

Inspectors also found instances where employee temperature checks were not carried out as often as expected, particularly in cases where a staff member was working a double shift.

People also read…

No residents were affected due to the deficient practices, the state said, although the errors had “the potential to cause more than minimal harm.” The state ruled the violations corrected on July 2.

Michael Hughes, senior vice president and chief administrative officer of Kaleida, said the health system was “very disappointed” with the Department of Health’s stance, noting that Kaleida had objected and challenged the fine last year. last when he became aware of it.

“We truly believe the unprecedented circumstances and our overall performance during the current crisis warranted a better result,” Hughes said. “One who acknowledges the facts and what really happened here: that missed temperature checks represent a tiny fraction of the thousands upon thousands of temperature checks performed to protect HighPointe residents. We are disappointed that NYDOH has chose to quote us, especially when some of the missed checks actually represented workers working double shifts and had already been checked by the time they first reported to work.

“While we have complied with and paid the fine, we remain confident that HighPointe’s record on Michigan during the pandemic stands out among the best for any long-term care facility in Western New York.”

Of 35 Erie County nursing homes listed in federal data, HighPointe had one of the lowest rates of Covid-19 cases and deaths per 1,000 population.

The state’s visit to HighPointe in May came amid a continuing flurry of inspections to ensure compliance with measures to limit the spread of the virus, especially in the most vulnerable settings. Since March 2020, the Department of Health has carried out more than 4,200 infection control inspections of nursing homes and adult care facilities – with at least one visit to each nursing home and care site for adults in the state, spokesman Jeffrey Hammond said.

HighPointe, a four-story, 300-bed facility that opened more than a decade ago, was last fined by the Department of Health in January 2016, slapped with a $16,000 following a February 2015 incident in which nurses were not wearing the required pagers that could have alerted them before a 16-month-old boy hooked up to a feeding tube choked to death on his meal liquid. That incident and another case in 2014 involving alleged falsified records for a 56-year-old HighPointe resident led the attorney general to fine Kaleida $500,000 in November 2019.

On the evening in February 2015 when 16-month-old Jameir Benn died, the monitor strapped to his toe should have alerted staff that he had stopped breathing. But only one worker was carrying a pager and he didn’t answer the urgent call

In the past 20 years, the highest fine imposed by the Department of Health on a Western New York nursing home went to Humboldt House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Buffalo, which was Hit with a $50,000 fine in June 2020 after a visit two months earlier that uncovered infection prevention and control violations when the pandemic was only a month later.

HighPointe’s recent fine is the largest so far this year among penalized nursing homes in the state. But that’s not the only recent punishment for Western New York nursing homes.


Buffalo nursing home hit with largest state fine for Covid-19 violations

Twenty-three nursing homes statewide, including four others in Western New York, were fined a total of $328,000 for infection control violations.

What other facilities have been fined?

So far this year, 35 fines have been levied against New York City nursing homes through March 22, totaling $304,000 in penalties, mostly following inspections last year, state records show. Ministry of Health.

Nursing homes in Western New York are responsible for six of those fines — 17% of the total — but 27% of the total penalties, or $82,000.

Aside from HighPointe, which has an overall rating of three stars, or “average,” in the federal five-star rating system for nursing homes, here are the local nursing homes that have been penalized since Jan. 1:

• Dunkirk Rehabilitation and Nursing Center was fined $10,000 on February 22, in connection with a September inspection which revealed a resident had suffered a second-degree burn measuring 42cm by 7cm lower left leg due to an electric baseboard located only 12 inches from the resident’s bed. Dunkirk Rehabilitation has an overall federal rating of two stars, or below average.

• Williamsville Suburban at 163 S. Union Road was fined $10,000 on Jan. 25, linked to an October investigation that found the facility “failed to ensure that the drug regimen of each resident is examined at least once a month by a licensed pharmacist. The pharmacist would then report irregularities to the attending physician as well as the site’s medical director and nursing director. Williamsville Suburban has a one-star federal rating, or “well below average.”


Two Safire nursing homes fined $56,000 for violations

One-star rated facilities have been cited for failing to test workers for Covid-19, failing to ensure workers wash their hands properly, failing to report possible cases of abuse and more.

• Two of Elderwood’s nursing homes were fined. First, Elderwood in Williamsville was fined $10,000 on January 11, tied to an inspection in August related to cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR. No other details were available in the state database. Elderwood in Lockport was fined $2,000 on January 20, relating to a July inspection on infection prevention and control, among other measures. Elderwood in Williamsville and Lockport both have three-star federal ratings.

• Safire Rehabilitation of Northtowns, a one-star rated facility in the city of Tonawanda, was fined $10,000 on January 6, following an inspection a year earlier for failing to properly investigate. thoroughly and to report incidents of possible physical abuse of two residents.

Jon Harris can be reached at 716-849-3482 or jharris@buffnews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ByJonHarris.

Guest column: There is no healthcare without healthcare workers

Chelsey W. Vogt
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Publication date :

April 22, 2022 • 46 minutes ago • 3 minute read • Join the conversation

Nurses prepare to treat a COVID-19 patient in the intensive <a class=care unit at the Peter Lougheed Center in Calgary on November 14, 2020.” class=”featured-image__image type:primaryImage” height=”750″ src=”https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/windsorstar/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/0909-fs-covid-fs.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=288&h=216″ srcset=”https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/windsorstar/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/0909-fs-covid-fs.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=288&h=216, https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/windsorstar/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/0909-fs-covid-fs.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=576&h=432 2x” width=”1000″/>
Nurses prepare to treat a COVID-19 patient in the intensive care unit at the Peter Lougheed Center in Calgary on November 14, 2020. Sun Media

By Linda Silas

Like many nurses in Canada, I welcomed the recent announcement that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh had reached an agreement on health care.

As nurses, we have long advocated for national pharmacare, long-term care standards and dental care, and we recognize that affordable housing is a key social determinant of health.

While these measures will most certainly improve health outcomes for Canadians, the deal fails to address the perilous state of our health care system. A decades-long shortage of healthcare workers continues to grow unabated and has left our healthcare system on life support and on the brink of collapse.

Nurses are now pinning their hopes on the deal’s promise of immediate “additional continued investments” in Canada’s health care system, including more nurses.

They desperately hope to see significant targeted funding aimed at proven retention and recruitment initiatives, backed up by real accountability measures.

Yes, we need more health workers, nurses and doctors. At the same time, we also need to keep the nurses we have in their jobs to train, mentor and retain a new generation of nurses.

Retention and recruitment are two sides of the same coin.

In the fourth quarter of 2021, Statistics Canada reported 126,000 vacancies in the health care and social assistance sector, an all-time high. Nationally, the number of nursing vacancies exceeded 34,000, an increase of 133% over a two-year period.

Late-career nurses are reviewing their pension plans. Meanwhile, new nurses are shocked by the unsustainable working conditions on the front lines and are reassessing their career choices.

Grueling workloads and staff shortages have taken their toll.

A national Viewpoints Research poll commissioned by the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU) found that severe burnout among nurses had risen to 45%. Nurses struggle with high levels of stress.

A survey indicates that just over half of nurses plan to quit their jobs this year. Of these, one in five may leave nursing altogether. Even if nurses don’t leave immediately, more than 20% of healthcare workers will be able to retire by 2026.

Along with more than 60 other healthcare organizations, CFNU also supports the agreement’s commitment to better data, which we hope will inform a robust approach to health human resource planning.

To this end, the federal government must establish a dedicated coordinating body to address critical health workforce data gaps.

Without a commitment to better tools for data collection, coordination, analysis and planning, we can expect inadequate planning to continue today and into the future.

Health workers represent an important public investment.

In 2019, this represented nearly 8% of GDP. More than 10% of all working Canadians work in health care. And yet, we know very little about our health workforce. We lack the most basic data and tools needed for planning.

To plan for the future and build a responsive health care system, we need to be able to predict the evolution of the workforce.

The federal government must take a leadership role in collecting better and more complete data. Meanwhile, provinces, territories and regions will benefit from a more strategic and holistic approach to health workforce planning.

Throughout this pandemic, nurses have shouldered the burden of a short-staffed and underfunded health care sector. It’s time to do the right thing for healthcare workers and invest in a stronger healthcare system.

Linda Silas is a nurse and president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions, which represents nearly 200,000 nurses and nursing students across the country.

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CMS releases data on who buys the country’s qualified nursing facilities and hospitals

Chelsey W. Vogt
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In a strong sign that the Biden administration is serious about fighting poor quality and fraud, federal health officials on Wednesday unveiled a pair of CMS datasets that named 3,236 skilled nursing facilities (SNF ) and 348 hospitals that were sold after January 1, 2016. , including the buyer and seller, and whether they were organizations or individuals.

The effort, which aimed to improve public knowledge about the types of companies and individuals who control these facilities, is an attempt to better examine how private equity takeovers in health care – a trend expanding in recent years – can lead to reduced spending on quality care and on hiring the staff needed for direct care.

An HHS analysis accompanying the data explained the rationale. “Private equity firms and other private investment firms have purchased NFCs; in some cases, the new owners have sold the real estate assets to another entity under their control and then returned the building to the facility origin with substantial management fees,” the HHS analysts wrote. .

Sales can reduce healing resources

“Critics argue this forced SNFs to reduce quality and, arguably, made them ill-equipped to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic,” the analysts continued. As of January 30, COVID-19 has claimed the lives of more than 200,000 nursing home residents and staff, according to a report by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

HHS analysts also observed that academic researchers found that “private equity acquisition of SNF is associated with increases in short-term mortality and shifts of resources from patient care to health care elements.” not intended for patients”.

The data showed for the first time every Medicare-enrolled hospital and nursing home that had been involved in a merger, acquisition, consolidation or changed ownership after 2015.

Because individual facilities that have inappropriate billing practices may be part of organizational models of inappropriate practices, data on owner-management relationships can improve oversight and protect Medicare and Medicaid payments and patients, observed HHS analysts.

By tracking consolidation trends, regulators can support pro-competitive policies that reduce health care costs. “Information about ownership changes will now be much more readily available to researchers and the general public through this CMS data release,” the analysts wrote.

The new datasets also indicated where most ownership changes occurred. For example, 19% of hospitals in South Carolina – 14 of 73 – changed hands while in most other states ownership changed in less than 4%.

SNF ownership changes occurred in every state, but most transactions occurred in Texas (471), Ohio (268), California (207), Illinois (175), Pennsylvania (148 ), Florida (144), North Carolina (103) and Virginia, (101). Sales also took place in smaller states: Wyoming (23), Iowa (56) and Utah (41).

During a roundtable on quality of care in nursing homes with Illinois state health officials on Wednesday, CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure welcomed the release of the new data. on healthcare facility ownership, saying the agency is particularly interested in tracking nursing home turnover, “not just at the staff level, but at the ownership level.”

Who is to blame?

The administration wants more transparency about how taxpayers’ money is spent to ensure that enough resources are spent on direct patient care and to know “who should be held accountable for issues,” Brooks-LaSure stressed. “We are seeing a huge amount of change in the industry.”

His agency is also working to better tie reimbursement to quality of care in nursing homes and “to really make sure that the incentives with the money are really about value and quality,” he said. she declared.

The datasets include sales and acquisitions of hospitals and skilled nursing facilities from 2016 to 2021 and will be updated quarterly, according to a press release from CMS.

Ownership changes were much more common in the nursing home sector than in hospitals. Overall, 62.3% of NFCs purchased from 2016 to 2021 had a single organizational owner, 6.9% had multiple organizations as owners, 18.2% had only individual owners, and 12.7% had the two types of owners.

Previous research studies have suggested that the quality of care may decline in NFCs owned by large corporations. An analysis in Maryland, for example, suggested that facilities affiliated with large and medium-sized for-profit chains had lower ratings of family-reported experience of care.

CMS data tables can be searched by buyer or seller organization name. For example, sorting by organization name reveals that a company called Complete Care purchased 34 skilled nursing facilities in seven states from Connecticut to Florida during the 6-year period.

During the Illinois roundtable, Brooks-LaSure heard from nursing home patients and caregivers, as well as the nephew of a woman who died of COVID at an Indiana nursing home.

A certified practical nurse, Sharon Lake, said the lack of staff is a “huge problem. We don’t have enough workers to accommodate patients, so a lot of things fall to the side, which means that we it takes longer to get residents in. They may have to wait. Going to the bathroom sometimes takes a little longer”, and unfortunately, “patients are suffering because we are understaffed”.

Brooks-LaSure frequently mentioned President Biden’s commitment during his State of the Union address to improving the safety and quality of care in nursing homes across the country.

  • Cheryl Clark has been a medical and science journalist for over three decades.

State prohibits new admissions and readmissions to Naples nursing home

Chelsey W. Vogt
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The state found that 12% of the facility’s residents had pressure sores.

State health care regulators have banned a Naples nursing home from accepting new residents or readmitting existing residents to its facility after state regulators discovered that more than 10% of residents had developed pressure ulcers while living there.

Agency for Healthcare Administration secretary Simone Martiller issued a emergency order regarding the retirement home on April 19.

According to the order, seven residents of the facility had pressure ulcers during the week of April 6. These numbers come from the agency’s review of the facility’s records. “In each of these cases, doctors’ orders to treat the identified wounds were not followed,” the regulators wrote in their report.

As of April 6, there were 57 residents at the facility, which officially operates as 777 Ninth Street North Operations, LLC. This means that 12% of residents had pressure ulcers. The retirement home is authorized to accommodate up to 97 residents.

Residents of nursing homes have statutory rights, and among them is the right to live free from abuse and neglect and to receive adequate and appropriate health care services.

“The defendant in this case failed to ensure that these minimum requirements of the law were met,” the emergency order said.

There was also an eighth resident who suffered an upper leg amputation, according to the agency’s report, after being admitted to hospital Feb. 22 with a pressure sore. The documents said it was initially determined on Jan. 23 that the resident had developed a pressure sore after a positioning device was applied to the resident’s “lower left limb.”

On January 24, a doctor ordered a dietetic consultation, vitamins and the use of a special mattress.

“There is no documentation indicating that these orders were implemented or followed,” the emergency order noted.


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Accomplished Kamloops healthcare professional wins Freedom of the City award | infonews

Chelsey W. Vogt
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(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)


19 April 2022 – 13:42






A Kamloops resident receives the city’s highest municipal honor after a lifetime of living and serving the community.

Stella Black will receive the prestigious Freedom of the City award from Kamloops Mayor Ken Christian and council at a ceremony tomorrow evening, April 20, according to a press release from the City of Kamloops.

The award, symbolically known as the Key to the City, confers certain privileges on the recipient and is the highest honor the city can bestow.

“Black has supported some of our most important and important institutions with monumental change and improvement, selflessly giving his talents to benefit the health and vitality of our community and beyond,” said the city.


READ MORE: Two in the running for Kamloops’ next mayor so far

Born and raised in Kamloops, Black’s nursing career blossomed at the Royal Inland Hospital, where she rose from nurse nurse to clinical head nurse, supervisor, associate director of nursing, director of nursing, director acute care services for the Thompson Cariboo Shuswap Health Services Area. , and eventually Executive Director of Acute Care at the Royal Inland Hospital.

“Throughout his service in the health field, Black served on committees at several post-secondary institutions to support and develop quality health education, and helped develop the Bachelor of Science curriculum of Health from the Open Learning Agency,” the city said.

Black spent many years serving on the board of directors of the BC Cancer Agency and during that time was involved in publications that were instrumental in creating early detection and self-examination programs for the breast cancer.

She was an advisory member of the Southern Interior Cancer Clinic in Kelowna and of the Community Oncology Clinic Funding Task Force Committee.

Black served on the board of directors of Thompson Rivers University for 10 years, beginning when the institution was a college. She participated in the process of changing the status of the college to the university college and then to the university that it is today. She received an honorary doctorate for her service.


READ MORE: OPINION: Kelowna, Kamloops mayors say BC cities need access to federal housing pleasure

Black found time to be involved in several community organizations and accepted many volunteer opportunities.

“She truly exemplifies the spirit of service with her dedication to health, education, culture and the local community,” the city said.

Freedom of the city is awarded rarely, most recently in 2019, and only with the unanimous support of the mayor and council. Since 1949, only 27 individuals and six entities have been recognized with this prestigious distinction.

Tomorrow’s ceremony will also honor five Exemplary Service Award recipients.


To contact a reporter for this story, email Shannon Ainslie or call 250-819-6089 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.


We appreciate your comments and opinions on our stories, but play well. We will not censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in the comments, email the editor in the link above.

News from © iNFOnews, 2022

infonews

Doja Cat is retiring? A look at the rap retirement home

Chelsey W. Vogt
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Many wonder whether or not Doja Cat is serious about retiring from the rap game.

Over the years, Doja has killed the game, writing songs true to herself and her audience, but that may soon be over. The announcement of Doja Cat’s retirement was made on March 25 after several heated back-and-forths between her fans.

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Doja Cat dressed in Carolina Herrera Photo credit: Jacob Webster

Many of his supporters demanded an apology.

Fans accused Doja of being rude and aggressive in response to replies on Twitter. Following the cancellation of her performance at the Asunciónico Music Festival due to a major storm, Doja took to Twitter passionately.

A week after her announcement, she received her Grammy for “Kiss Me More” featuring SZA. In an exclusive with Entertainment Tonight, Doja Cat briefly opened up about retiring from music. Focusing only on having a good night, she dodged the question as best she could.

Is Doja Cat retiring? She dodged the question in the interview

Doja Cat’s retirement from music says a lot about the relationship between fans and celebrities. Is she over for good or does she need a sanity break?

Many rappers before her have claimed to have retired and even shown how much their sanity has grown from the music industry. However, for many animators, it’s hard to stay away from rapping.

What could other rappers who have said the same thing tell us about Doja Cats’ retirement?

1. Lil Wayne: How Music Can Beat Artists Like Doja Cat

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Via @liltunechi

The exact date of Weezy’s retirement is uncertain. On several occasions, due to the controversy behind The Carter V, the rap superstar has announced his retirement.

Weezy’s first retirement announcement came in 2012 with MTV. His commitment to retirement grew more serious as he faced a legal battle with record label Cash Money in 2016.

In a tweet, Weezy expressed the defeated sanity the music industry has caused him.

The Carter V finally came out in 2018, however, that wasn’t the end of Weezy’s music career. It will soon be featured on tracks by artists such as Kendrick Lamar and DJ Khaled.

Notably, you can follow Lil Wayne’s retirement at islilwaynerretired.com

2. Jay Z: came back stronger than ever

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Via @beyonce

Jay-Z’s retirement story is interesting but not much can be said about the godfather of rap in this case. Jay-Z retired in 2003, after releasing The Black Album. It was, however, a marketing tactic.

Three years later, he would drop Kingdom Come and many more. He found that “retiring” at the height of his career would only make his next albums more popular.

Jay-Z would end up dropping back-to-back hits, which was well worth it. His fame was not limited to rapping after his comeback. The Carters would be a household name after marrying Beyonce.

3. Logic: Could Twitch be a new path for retired Doja Cat?

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Logic is probably the most recent rapper to come out of retirement. His retirement story is also quite strange. After the release of No Pressure, he quit his rap career and became a pro streamer on Twitch.

Her personality attracted a large audience and was a refreshing change from the music. With an ecstatic personality, could Twitch itself be a new path for retired Doja Cat?

In less than a year, he came out of retirement. His announcement came as a nod to Micheal Jordan. Logic’s non-retirement letter posted on Twitter is a copy of Jordans, modeling the same format and posted similarly by their respective attorneys

4. 50 Cent: Found his place in television

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Via @50cent

50 Cent’s retirement came unexpectedly after a chart battle with Kanye West in 2007. Ahead of Kanye and 50’s Curtis’ iconic album Graduation, the duo reportedly had heated exchanges where they said they would quit release solo albums if Graduation sold more records.

The feud between the two was great for marketing, and fans loved the beef, however, in the end, Kanye’s Graduation passed Curtis.

The rapper never really intended to retire. Losing the chart battle with Kanye hasn’t really done him any favors in the music industry. In 2009 he came out of retirement and released Before I Self Destruct, which didn’t really compete with the others.

Fortunately, he found a niche in entertainment as an executive producer for Power. Could television be a path for Doja Cat after her retirement?

5. Nicki Minaj icon for women in rap

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Via @nickiminaj

Nicki Minaj is one of the most controversial retired and unretired rappers. In 2019, Nicki tweeted that she was retiring from music to focus on her family. She left her “barbies” fanbase freaked out all over Twitter.

She will later clarify this tweet in an interview with The Shade Room. Nicki was only thinking about her future when she posted this tweet.

“So the retreat was kind of about talking about my album, which was like, ‘Do I want to go back and record my fifth album? Where am I now? ” she told Shade Room.

10k80

Goodland, St. Francis among recipients of USDA healthcare grants

Chelsey W. Vogt
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Goodland and St. Francis health facilities received rural emergency health care grants from the USDA. (Picture by Pixabay)

USDA

TOPEKA — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s acting state director for rural development in Kansas, Dan Fischer, announced on Wednesday the awarding of $2.55 million in emergency health care grants in rural setting, benefiting 10 rural Kansas communities.

USDA grants will help rural hospitals and health care providers implement telehealth and nutrition assistance programs, augment staff to administer COVID-19 vaccines and testing, build or renovate facilities and purchase medical supplies.

Kansas communities receiving grants are:

  1. Cheyenne County Public Buildings Commission will receive a $54,200 grant to be used for the purchase and installation of flooring and equipment to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the Saint Francis skilled nursing facility. The facility’s flooring and dining room furniture cannot withstand the new cleaning and sanitizing standards required by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The project will replace over 9,000 square feet of carpet and laminate flooring and purchase new dining tables and chairs.
  2. The Cloud County Health Center will receive a grant of $369,600 to be used towards the purchase of a magnetic resonance imaging machine. An on-site MRI service will provide faster diagnosis and treatment, improving the quality of care.
  1. Winfield Rest Haven Inc. will receive a grant of $307,600 to be used to reimburse Winfield Rest Haven Inc. for lost revenue incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. Winfield Rest Haven, a qualified nursing home, is open to all residents regardless of ability to pay. The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly reduced the facility’s operating revenue.
  1. The Atchison Hospital Association will receive a grant of $414,800 to be used to reimburse the Atchison Hospital Association, Amberwell Health, for lost revenue in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This facility provides inpatient, outpatient, emergency care, and medical services to patients in the county and surrounding areas.
  1. Neosho Memorial Regional Medical Center will receive a grant of $434,300 to be used to purchase and install telehealth infrastructure and upgrade Neosho Memorial Regional Medical Center health information systems. The critical access hospital has faced unprecedented challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  1. Sumner County Hospital District #1 will receive a $91,100 grant to be used to purchase equipment and supplies to replace what was used during the COVID-19 pandemic, increase telehealth capabilities, purchase additional equipment to continue to serve COVID-19 patients and provide vaccines and testing at this Caldwell facility. This project will allow Sumner County’s only hospital to continue to provide health care protection and treatment for the COVID-19 pandemic and increase telehealth services.
  1. Prairie Sunset Home Inc. will receive a $74,600 grant to be used to reimburse Prairie Sunset Home Inc., a qualified nursing home, for lost 2020 and 2021 revenue. The investment will also purchase supplies and equipment and improve information technology and telehealth capabilities to assist the facility in its ongoing fight against COVID-19. This facility provides services to residents of a very small community and parts of Reno County.
  1. Coffeyville Regional Medical Center Inc. will receive a $657,700 grant to be used for the purchase of medical equipment, medical vehicles and a pharmacy storage system to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and support the COVID-19 response. 19 from the hospital in rural southeast Kansas.
  1. Frankfurt Community Care Home will receive a grant of $69,600 to be used to reimburse lost income that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  1. Sherman County Public Buildings Commission will receive a $83,100 grant to be used for the purchase of equipment to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and improve the quality of life of their residents. Purchase includes digital screening system, air filtration machines and ceiling lifts for Topside Manor, the only such facility in good ground.

Pending closure, poor care at Ipswich nursing home, latest findings from staffing crisis – Mitchell Republic

Chelsey W. Vogt
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Awaiting closure and poor care at Ipswich nursing home, latest results from staff crisis

A nursing home crisis in Ipswich, SD, illustrates the two worst potential outcomes of staffing shortages affecting long-term care facilities across the state: possible nursing home closures and troubling incidents of inadequate care to residents.

A staff shortage has been cited as one of the reasons officials at Avantara Ipswich nursing home have said they will close the 40-bed nursing home on May 31, 2022. Challenges relating to COVID-19 have also been listed.

The closure would leave residents and families seeking new care options potentially 25 miles away or more. Employees would also face job uncertainty and the Edmunds County community of 1,000 people about 27 miles west of Aberdeen would see a loss of economic activity. Local civic leaders called a public meeting on April 18 to discuss ways to keep the Ipswich house open.

Staffing issues were also identified by the South Dakota Department of Health, which sent inspectors to the Avantara Ipswich nursing home in April 2021. The state compiled a list of 13 code violations during that inspection. which required 104 pages to document. Four violations were listed as “deficiencies in quality of life and care”.

According to state and federal health department records, which were reviewed by News Watch, the April 2021 inspection found a short-staffed facility with inexperienced and ineffective management and oversight. , and many errors or omissions regarding the way the residents were holding on to.

“The provider failed to ensure that the facility was operated and administered in a manner that provided for the safety and general well-being of the 28 residents of the facility,” the state report concluded.

Legacy Health Care, the Illinois company that operates Avantara Ipswich and 12 other nursing homes in South Dakota, did not return a call or email seeking comment on this story, and the Avantara Ipswich manager told News Watch he was unable to comment. A state health department licensing official also declined a News Watch interview request.

The 2021 inspection report gave examples of serious shortcomings in resident care at Avantara Ipswich. Some residents have lost large amounts of weight; others were found by family members frequently drenched in urine; some had wounds or ulcers that were not documented or treated; and an elderly man had catheter problems that caused his penis to erode.

The impending home closure in Ipswich is an ominous sign for the state’s nursing home industry, which is a critical part of South Dakota’s healthcare continuum and a basic necessity for many residents. the oldest and most vulnerable in the state, said Mark Deak, director of the South Dakota Health Care Association.

Beyond staffing issues, ensuring consistent and adequate funding for nursing homes remains a related and ongoing issue. For every resident on Medicaid, the federal health plan for low-income residents, nursing homes lose more than $50 a day, according to state and federal records. This equation means South Dakota’s roughly 100 nursing homes lose about $56 million a year combined in unreimbursed care provided to Medicaid recipients, who make up about 55% of