Health
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday that over 3,500 patients and workers at skilled nursing facilities in the state are infected with the coronavirus. “It’s not lost on me, it shouldn’t be lost on you, what’s happening in our skilled nursing facilities and our senior and adult daycare facilities,” Newsom said. The California Department of Public Health said the state now has 27,528 confirmed cases of COVID-19, meaning people who work and live at nursing homes make up 12% of all cases in the state. “So, your death rates are now at the highest they’ve been and the number of people in the most vulnerable settings are seniors. People that literally raised us, built this middle class,” Newsom said. “You talk about vibrancy and the California economy, the American economy, these are the folks that built this economy, are still most at risk.”Newsom said the state will release nursing home numbers in detail. His announcement comes as some health care workers and families feel a growing concern.“It’s a real tragedy,” said April Verrett about the outbreak. “There’s no such thing as social distancing when it comes to bathing a resident or helping a resident with their medication.”Verrett is the president of California’s largest union, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 2015. They represent a quarter of all nursing home workers in the state. Newsom appointed her to his new state Task Force on Business and Jobs Recovery.“There should be a standard way across the state, whether it’s through county departments of public health, the state department of public health, that we know there are instances of COVID-19,” Verrett said.According to Newsom, about 400 nursing home facilities are impacted. One recent outbreak is at St. John’s Retirement Village in Woodland. Family members said dozens of staff and patients are sick, and one person has died. Yolo County health officials will not comment on the location because of confidentiality. “We are trying to protect the identities of those at these nursing homes,” said Yolo County spokesperson Jenny Tan. “All the families of residents have been notified. So, if someone has a family member at a nursing facility and they have not been contacted, then it is not at their loved one’s facility.”Health departments in Sacramento and Placer counties have the same policy. “I’m a big proponent of transparency and reporting,” said Debra Bakerjian. Bakerjian is a clinical professor at UC Davis’ Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing and focuses on research and policy in nursing homes. “When you weigh the two things, I think the policy really has to be towards the safety of the public,” she said. “I was very distressed to hear that there was some nursing home staff who did not know that they had COVID-19 positive residents in their nursing home and I think that’s incredibly unfair and dangerous.”Newsom weighed in on transparency concerning nursing home information. “You will be receiving by site that information. We will continue to try to update it, make it more granular. We have HIPAA and patient privacy concerns,” he said. “So it may not be everything everybody wants, but it is a substantial leap forward in providing you that information that you correctly deserve.”Verrett is hopeful that the state will disclose nursing home names and locations where there are confirmed COVID-19 cases.“I understand the concerns around HIPAA,” she said. “I don’t think we need to release names, but I do think we should know as a general public. Family members are deeply concerned about their loved ones who are in nursing homes.”Health care experts said the expected release of nursing home statistics is information that will not just shed light, but save lives. “It wasn’t until we started to see all of the deaths and the big challenges in nursing homes that anybody really paid any attention,” Bakerjian said. “And we are now weeks down the road. And it’s only now, really, that national attention is coming to play for nursing homes and assisted living and other congregant living that house our most vulnerable patients and have staff that are all at risk as well.”Bakerjian and Verrett said updated data will help drive resources to the facilities that need it the most.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday that over 3,500 patients and workers at skilled nursing facilities in the state are infected with the coronavirus.
“It’s not lost on me, it shouldn’t be lost on you, what’s happening in our skilled nursing facilities and our senior and adult daycare facilities,” Newsom said.
The California Department of Public Health said the state now has 27,528 confirmed cases of COVID-19, meaning people who work and live at nursing homes make up 12% of all cases in the state.
“So, your death rates are now at the highest they’ve been and the number of people in the most vulnerable settings are seniors. People that literally raised us, built this middle class,” Newsom said. “You talk about vibrancy and the California economy, the American economy, these are the folks that built this economy, are still most at risk.”
Newsom said the state will release nursing home numbers in detail. His announcement comes as some health care workers and families feel a growing concern.
“It’s a real tragedy,” said April Verrett about the outbreak. “There’s no such thing as social distancing when it comes to bathing a resident or helping a resident with their medication.”
Verrett is the president of California’s largest union, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 2015. They represent a quarter of all nursing home workers in the state. Newsom appointed her to his new state Task Force on Business and Jobs Recovery.
“There should be a standard way across the state, whether it’s through county departments of public health, the state department of public health, that we know there are instances of COVID-19,” Verrett said.
According to Newsom, about 400 nursing home facilities are impacted. One recent outbreak is at St. John’s Retirement Village in Woodland. Family members said dozens of staff and patients are sick, and one person has died. Yolo County health officials will not comment on the location because of confidentiality.
“We are trying to protect the identities of those at these nursing homes,” said Yolo County spokesperson Jenny Tan. “All the families of residents have been notified. So, if someone has a family member at a nursing facility and they have not been contacted, then it is not at their loved one’s facility.”
Health departments in Sacramento and Placer counties have the same policy.
“I’m a big proponent of transparency and reporting,” said Debra Bakerjian.
Bakerjian is a clinical professor at UC Davis’ Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing and focuses on research and policy in nursing homes.
“When you weigh the two things, I think the policy really has to be towards the safety of the public,” she said. “I was very distressed to hear that there was some nursing home staff who did not know that they had COVID-19 positive residents in their nursing home and I think that’s incredibly unfair and dangerous.”
Newsom weighed in on transparency concerning nursing home information.
“You will be receiving by site that information. We will continue to try to update it, make it more granular. We have HIPAA and patient privacy concerns,” he said. “So it may not be everything everybody wants, but it is a substantial leap forward in providing you that information that you correctly deserve.”
Verrett is hopeful that the state will disclose nursing home names and locations where there are confirmed COVID-19 cases.
“I understand the concerns around HIPAA,” she said. “I don’t think we need to release [patient] names, but I do think we should know as a general public. Family members are deeply concerned about their loved ones who are in nursing homes.”
Health care experts said the expected release of nursing home statistics is information that will not just shed light, but save lives.
“It wasn’t until we started to see all of the deaths and the big challenges in nursing homes that anybody really paid any attention,” Bakerjian said. “And we are now weeks down the road. And it’s only now, really, that national attention is coming to play for nursing homes and assisted living and other congregant living that house our most vulnerable patients and have staff that are all at risk as well.”
Bakerjian and Verrett said updated data will help drive resources to the facilities that need it the most.
Health 3,500+ people sick with COVID-19 in California’s nursing homes - KCRA Sacramento
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