WFXT FOX25: 25 Investigates: MA took step to shut down nursing home it used for COVID-19 patients just months ago

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WFXT FOX25: 25 Investigates: MA took step to shut down nursing home it used for COVID-19 patients just months ago

November 11, 2020
by Kerry Kavanaugh
WFXT FOX25: 25 Investigates: MA took step to shut down nursing home it used for COVID-19 patients just months ago

“This week, Massachusetts took a first step toward shutting down a nursing home that, just four months ago, it was using for COVID-19 positive patients. 25 Investigates recently reported how some struggling long-term care facilities were part of the state’s pandemic response plan, as coronavirus cases surged in the spring…

…“We should not continually impact nursing homes with these patients,” said Arlene Germain is the policy director of the Massachusetts Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, which has demanded for months the state stop sending sick COVID-19 patients into nursing homes. “And as we know, elders are very susceptible to any disease, and especially it turns out to COVID.”…

…In a news release, MassHealth said the homes had “a historic record of poor performance.”
“It tells me that one hand doesn’t know what the other hand is doing,” said Germain…”

Worcester Telegram: Local nursing homes brace for new wave of virus

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Worcester Telegram: Local nursing homes brace for new wave of virus

September 2, 2020
by Elaine Thompson
Worcester Telegram: Local nursing homes brace for new wave of virus

“…Alison Weingartner, executive director of Massachusetts Advocates for Nursing Homes, said she still has concerns about the safety of nursing home residents. One of her main concerns is the state designating wings of some nursing homes — including many that were poor-performing — as isolation space for COVID-19 patients brought there from hospitals.

As an incentive, the state paid the nursing homes, not only for the COVID-19 positive patients they took in, but also provided additional funding toward the care of all the other patients in that nursing home.

Weingartner said one of the nursing homes had been designated “special focus facilities” by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which meant they were “among the worst of the worst.”

Weingartner’s group complained when Beaumont in Worcester was designated a COVID-19 recovery center and relocated regular residents so it could take in COVID-19 patients from hospitals. The relocation plan was abandoned after some of the patients being moved were found to have the coronavirus.

“I have concerns,” Weingartner said. “If we have a surge, how does that affect these isolation homes that still exist today when we still haven’t sorted through the fact that some are low-care providers … and how they affect residents already living in the nursing home?”…”

WFXT FOX25: COVID-19 patients sent to struggling nursing homes during surge

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WFXT FOX25: COVID-19 patients sent to struggling nursing homes during surge

July 16, 2020
by Kerry Kavanaugh, Jason Solowski, and Patricia Alulema
COVID-19 patients sent to struggling nursing homes during surge

At the end of March, state health officials needed a plan to preserve capacity levels at hospitals. That’s when they turned to nursing homes. “They were part of the backup plan,” said Arlene Germain, Policy Director with the Massachusetts Advocates for Nursing Home Reform. “But I don’t know why they were part of the backup plan. It’s just common sense that you don’t commingle COVID patients with such vulnerable nursing homes residents.”

…For months, Germain’s group has been questioning the state’s plan to put coronavirus positive patients in facilities with “most vulnerable to this deadly disease.”

…25 Investigates has learned pretty much any nursing home was eligible and they received financial incentives.

Facilities only needed to fill out an attestation form, stating they have a COVID-19 isolation space – either a floor, wing or room – and that they had the capacity to accept new residents. In exchange, the state freed up millions in additional funding for homes.

“So the question is, what kind of vetting really did happen?” added Germain.

…We also found some homes on the state’s list had been flagged by federal auditors for a variety of issues including poor staffing, poor plans for controlling the spread of infectious disease and some even had a history of abuse.

“Bringing in even more patients was just creating an additional burden [for nursing homes] that wasn’t necessary,” said Germain. “We should really take a hard look at these isolation units and not keep perpetuating them,” said Germain. “It’s not worth the risk. It’s not worth their lives. It’s not worth the lives of their health care workers.

Berkshire Eagle: In nursing homes, heartbreak as some are more isolated than others

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Berkshire Eagle: In nursing homes, heartbreak as some are more isolated than others

June 16, 2020
Berkshire Eagle: In nursing homes, heartbreak as some are more isolated than others
by Heather Bellow

“There are people who come every day to feed their loved one, like a spouse or a daughter,” said Alison Weingartner, executive director of Massachusetts Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, a nonprofit industry watchdog. “When those people were not allowed to see their person for weeks, they stopped eating. They do know that you’re there.”

Weingartner says the nonprofit receives numerous calls on their 800 numbers about this and the inability of those with dementia to communicate with technology.

Many nursing homes in the Berkshires and beyond solved the visitation problem by accessing state grants for multiple smart tablets to make it easier for video conferencing.

“That was a solution,” Weingartner said. “It didn’t help those without cognition.”

Washington Post: Hundreds of nursing homes ran short on staff, protective gear as more than 30,000 residents died during pandemic

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Washington Post: Hundreds of nursing homes ran short on staff, protective gear as more than 30,000 residents died during pandemic

June 4, 2020
by Peter Whoriskey, Debbie Cenziper, Will Englund, & Joel Jacobs
Hundreds of nursing homes ran short on staff, protective gear as more than 30,000 residents died during pandemic

The CMS should have held nursing homes accountable for lapses in infection control and prevention long before the pandemic, said Arlene Germain, policy director of Massachusetts Advocates for Nursing Home Reform.

Even as the coronavirus spread in March and April, nearly 600 nursing homes were cited by government inspectors for violating federal standards meant to prevent and control the spread of infections.

She said the deaths of more than 600[typo in article] nursing home residents and staff members could have been mitigated if homes were better prepared and had access to supplies and testing.

“It’s heartbreaking,” she said of the death count. “It shouldn’t have happened.”

Politico: States prod nursing homes to take more Covid-19 patients

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Politico: States prod nursing homes to take more Covid-19 patients

June 4, 2020
Politico: States prod nursing homes to take more Covid-19 patients
by Maggie Severns & Rachel Roubein

“…But half of the Massachusetts nursing homes that have created dedicated wings for Covid-19 patients are either rated “below average” or “much below average” – two-star or one-star — on the federal scale, according to a review by the advocacy group Massachusetts Advocates for Nursing Home Reform. And one had been designated “special focus facilities” by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which put them among the 88 worst nursing homes in the country, the group found…”

WGBH Morning Edition, Christopher Burrell

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June 3, 2020
WGBH Morning Edition, Christopher Burrell
[Transcript not available]

Alison Weingartner quoted on restarting nursing home visitations: “They’d be a welcome relief, obviously, mentally for the family members and the resident. But do they bring another threat in because we’re doing it too prematurely? And they’ve been out, out and about and now they’re going to go visit their loved one in a facility. It is premature to have opened up visitations right now.”

WFXT FOX25: State’s official COVID-19 death toll at nursing homes may not tell full story inside some facilities

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WFXT FOX25: State’s official COVID-19 death toll at nursing homes may not tell full story inside some facilities

May 11, 2020
WFXT FOX25: State’s official COVID-19 death toll at nursing homes may not tell full story inside some facilities
by Kerry Kavanaugh

“It’s so tragic and it’s so infuriating all in the same breath,” said Arlene Germain, policy director for Massachusetts Advocates for Nursing Home Reform.

“It was known from the onset, that this population was in the age range, and of the frailty that would be most susceptible. Plus, they live in such close proximity. So it was a recipe for disaster.”

Boston Globe: State elder affairs office shelved citizens advisory council before coronavirus crisis, Panel offered feedback on conditions in Massachusetts nursing homes

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Boston Globe: State elder affairs office shelved citizens advisory council before coronavirus crisis, Panel offered feedback on conditions in Massachusetts nursing homes

May 9, 2020
Boston Globe: State elder affairs office shelved citizens advisory council before coronavirus crisis, Panel offered feedback on conditions in Massachusetts nursing homes
by Robert Weisman

Another member of the citizens advisory council, Arlene Germain, policy director of the Massachusetts Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, said members had asked state officials in recent calls to add a consumer voice to a state task force that included representatives from nursing home operators and unions seeking higher MassHealth reimbursement. Some have blamed inadequate reimbursement rates for the low pay and chronic staff shortages at facilities even before the pandemic.

“The council would have had value right now,” Germain said. “It could be an overall umbrella of expertise from people who have been in the field for decades that could help in coordinating the state response to the coronavirus.”