Visitors Could Return To Morris Plains, Twp. Nursing Homes Soon

There is universal testing in all long-term care facilities, the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed but Department of Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said New Jersey is not ready to allow visitors into nursing homes yet.

Persichilli said during Wednesday's COVID-19 briefing that the disease in nursing homes is still there in most of the facilities.

"We have to be extremely vigilant when we put out guidance for visitation. So we're looking at what some other states are doing, we've identified some guidelines that we're just not ready to put out yet but soon," she said. "But whenever we put out the guidance it is really with the thought in mind to keep it as safe as possible for these vulnerable populations.

As of Wednesday, there were 23,225 COVID-19 positive patients and 11,574 positive staff spread through 550 facilities in the Garden State. The listing of deaths is where things get tricky. According to the self-reported numbers by facilities there have been 6,215 patient deaths and 112 staff deaths due to COVID-19 complications but the lab-confirmed totals for residents and staff is at 5,471.

In Morris Township and Morris Plains, the cases vary by facility which are now performing weekly testing of residents and staff:

• Morris View Healthcare Center has 122 COVID-19 positive patients and 35 positive staff. The facility lost 27 patients and no staff.
• In Arbor Terrace Morris Plain they have 10 COVID-19 positive patients and nine staff members. The facility has lost three patients and no staff members.
• Sunrise Assisted Living of Morris Plains has three COVID-19 positive patients and three staff. The facility has lost one patient and no staff.

"This is something we struggle with," Persichilli said. "We understand both sides of this issue but it is not something we are going to be putting out without a lot of thought.

There will be sweeping changes coming to long-term care facilities to repair the deficiencies exposed and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Gov. Phil Murphy. Murphy made the announcement last week after his administration had an outside company audit the system and deliver a report last week.

The report gives guidance for new residents and visitors after the current COVID-19 outbreak and addresses mitigation, protection, and resiliency against future outbreaks, both in the near- and long-term. The recommendations also present a roadmap for rebuilding a high-functioning long-term care system that emphasizes quality of care, patient safety, robust data infrastructure, and strong staff supports.

The current COVID-19 crisis has placed a spotlight on many nursing homes in the Garden State and even facilities with previously clean records haven't been immune. A report about a Warren County facility revealed a woman who fought to save her father from what she says was mismanagement of his care for one.

In Parsippany, a family said that Care One at Morris left an ailing grandmother for hours in a chair, in a soiled diaper, in unspeakable pain and not provided fresh water.

Infamously, Andover Rehabilitation and Subacute Care set up a "makeshift morgue" to deal with an overflow of bodies over Easter weekend. The facility, which had numerous complaints and penalties levied at it in the past was recently fined $220,000 and is now being sued by families of patients.

These cases has brought sharp criticism from some segments of the community, as Senator Steven Oroho, Senator Declan O'Scanlon, and Senator Kristin Corrado released a statement remarking that the "superficial report" commissioned by Murphy does not absolve his administration for its clear failures that led to the massive loss of life in New Jersey's long-term care facilities due to COVID-19.

"The Murphy Administration paid a consulting firm $500,000 to rush a report that attempts to shift blame for thousands of nursing home deaths to anyone but the governor," said Oroho. "What taxpayers received back is a glossy report that repackages the State's data in colorful graphs and charts. The report glosses over the fact that the administration forced our LTC facilities to admit COVID-19 patients, which led to thousands of deaths. With that glaring deficiency, the entire report is suspect."

For his part Murphy has repeatedly denied this allegation noting that the guidance never asked for patients to be admitted into the general population, but rather in a cohort or a separate wing or floor of the facility.

"The administration paid a consultant to write a report at taxpayer expense that advocates for the governor's policy agenda while shifting blame for the governor's bad choices," said O'Scanlon. "I wish I could say I'm shocked. It's undeniable that our long-term care facilities warned that they didn't have sufficient supplies of PPE or the ability to manage the highly infectious patients that the Department of Health was forcing them to accept from hospitals. By failing to address these simple truths, this rushed report was irrelevant the second it was released."

The senators said the administration's attempts to stifle dissenting opinions, shift blame, and perhaps even cover-up its failures serves to heighten the need for a legislative investigation with subpoena authority.

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