To fight the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the association representing Oklahoma’s skilled nursing facilities has identified three key policy areas of action for state government. Care Providers Oklahoma says progress on each front is essential in protecting the health and safety of residents and staff.
Those areas are:
• Increased access to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Like other health care providers, Oklahoma’s nursing homes are running dangerously low on PPE because of the state’s difficulty in obtaining supplies from the national reserve and significant delays in traditional supply channels.
In light of Gov. Kevin Stitt’s announcement that Oklaho- ma has received a significant stockpile of PPE from the federal government, Care Providers Oklahoma requests that an appropriate amount of this gear be delivered immediately to skilled nursing facilities, prioritizing those facilities with residents or staff that have tested positive for COVID-19.
• Reducing the spread of COVID-19 from hospitals to skilled nursing homes by requiring negative tests before hospital discharge. Patients can be discharged from hospitals to nursing facilities without a completed COVID-19 test. However, a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that, in the case of a facility in Seattle, 57% of residents who tested positive showed no symptoms but were likely still contagious. The report highlights the need for all hospital patients discharged into nursing homes to demonstrate through testing that they do not have the virus.
• Creation of intermediate treatment facilities for nursing home residents who test positive for COVID-19. Currently, a nursing home resident who tests positive for COVID-19 is either treated in the nursing home, where he/she can expose vulnerable residents and staff to the disease, or is treated at a hospital, many of which are already overburdened.
Care Providers Oklahoma asks the state government to help stand up transitional facilities to provide treatment for COVID-19 patients outside of hospitals and nursing homes with healthy populations. Recently closed skilled nursing facilities could be repurposed as transitional facilities.
In addition to these important policy steps, prevention of and response to COVID-19 has significantly amplified operational expenses for the procurement of PPE and associated employment expenses.
Care Providers Oklahoma joined the American Health Care Association in calling for dedicated national resources to help address these costs, and for Oklahoma policymakers to prioritize the allocation of enhanced funding to healthcare providers like skilled nursing facilities that are on the front lines of this fight, with temporary emergency add-on payments.
“I cannot say enough about our skilled nursing staff, whose actions every day highlight their bravery, compassion and professionalism,” said Care Providers Oklahoma President and CEO Steven Buck.
“Now we need action from the state to ensure these men and women have the equipment they need to be successful. We request these steps so that our elected leaders, agency staff and the public understand exactly what we need to fight this disease. The governor’s decision to utilize the Catastrophic Health Emergency Powers Act underscores the need for swift action on these fronts.”