Nursing home residents have not been allowed to receive visitors for months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. | stock photo
Nursing home residents have not been allowed to receive visitors for months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. | stock photo
Rep. Julie Calley (R-Portland) stated that she is worried about the isolation that residents of long-term care facilities are facing due to COVID-19, the Michigan House Republicans reported.
The Joint Select Committee on the COVID-19 Pandemic recently heard testimony from the Department of Health and Human Services Director Robert Gordon, investigating the lack of implementation of recommendations issued by the Michigan Nursing Homes COVID-19 Preparedness Task Force.
“The administration has publicly said they are listening to medical experts regarding COVID-19, but Director Gordon does not seem to be putting the recommendations of the governor’s task force at the forefront of the response for nursing homes,” Calley said, according to Michigan House Republicans.
Rep. Julie Calley
| Michigan House Republicans
The panel has come up with plans about caring for residents in the best way possible, such as through staffing and placement considerations. In all, there were 13 recommendations made to the administration about formulating a better approach for care over the duration of the virus.
Many of the residents in long-term care facilities have been left without access to general services, like medical and dental care, communal meals and group activities, which can have negative emotional impacts.
“We don’t seem to have a cohesive plan for protecting the lives of long-term care residents while safely enhancing them, as they live practically in isolation,” Calley told Michigan House Republicans. “Why are hospital visits safe when nursing home visits aren’t? Why did most other states find a mechanism for visitation before Michigan? Why does Michigan report nursing home data differently than other states? How have we continued to charge long-term care staff with fulfilling social and emotional needs of residents, when they have already been trying to fill that gap for months?”
Calley stated that Gordon failed to answer the questions thoroughly. Such a response, Calley said, is not acceptable for the thousands of individuals living in isolation during a time when they desperately need a sense of community.
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