PA Releases Updated Pandemic Guidance For Nursing Homes

HARRISBURG, PA — Pennsylvania on Tuesday released updated guidance for nursing and personal care homes to follow during the coronavirus pandemic.

The latest COVID-19 guidance expands visitation and offers updated guidelines on testing for residents and staff. It also outlines circumstances "when and how facilities can safely relax mitigation tactics."

The new policies are needed to keep residents safe, while at the same time allowing facilities to ease restrictions to "operate under a new normal," said DHS Secretary Teresa Miller.

Among the changes are updated compassionate care visitation policies.

The DHS noted "prolonged isolation may significantly affect a resident’s mental, emotional, and physical health," an issue that has been noted in multiple recent reports. According to recent reports, summertime deaths attributed to Alzheimer’s disease and dementia were up by more than 20 percent above normal levels.

"Facilities must respect residents’ rights and prioritize their well-being by safely facilitating visitation between residents and loved ones as a means of compassionate care. A Compassionate Care visit may be needed if a significant change in a resident’s health or emotional well-being is noted. This can include a change in health status and bereavement due to loss of a loved one, among others," the updated guidance says.

Facilities must permit visitation by family, friends, clergy, and others identified by a resident during end-of-life situations. Compassionate caregivers should be tested for COVID-19 within seven days of visiting, the guidance says.

Additionally, the guidance states that if the level of community spread in the area around the facility is low, and the facility itself has no active cases or outbreaks, safe visitation should resume.

Restrictions on visitation and limitations on communal activities like meals have been restricted in long-term care facilities since the spring in order to help limit risk of COVID-19 exposure for residents.

"There is a direct connection between the level of community spread of COVID-19 and outbreaks in a facility," state officials said.

The guidance updates the three-step reopening process to clarify the timelines facilities should follow and what is necessary to move between each step.

The new guidance also lays out updated testing parameters, stating the frequency of screening residents and staff of COVID-19 should be determined based on the level of virus activity in the community where the long-term care facility is located.

Pennsylvania nursing homes have been particularly hard-hit by the virus. There have been 22,279 resident cases of COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic. Out of the state's 8,004 deaths, 5,353 have occurred in residents from nursing or personal care facilities.

The updated guidance can be viewed in full here.