Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Report: Many Nursing Homes' Staff Described As Inadequate, Unprepared For Work Brought On By Pandemic
Reuters: Special Report: Pandemic Exposes Systemic Staffing Problems At U.S. Nursing Homes
One night in April, as coronavirus swept through the Hammonton Center for Rehabilitation and Healthcare, Robyn Esaw, a double amputee, signaled for help with her bedpan. She said she hit the bedside button that turns on a red hallway light. None of the few remaining staff showed up - and one of them turned the light off. Esaw only got help, eventually, by wheeling herself to the nursing station and yelling. (Kirkham and Lesser, 6/10)
The Wall Street Journal: Nursing Homes Say Some Protective Gear Sent By FEMA Is Unusable
A major federal effort to ship protective gear to nursing homes during the coronavirus pandemic is providing equipment that some facilities say is unusable, including plastic gowns that they say don’t meet their infection-control requirements. The shipments, coordinated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, are ultimately supposed to provide two weeks’ worth of gloves, gowns, surgical masks and eye protection for each of approximately 15,000 facilities. A FEMA spokeswoman said that as of Tuesday, 13,654 packages have been sent, with more slated for the coming weeks. (Mathews, 6/11)
Kaiser Health News: Federal Help Falters As Nursing Homes Run Short Of Protective Equipment
Around the country, nursing homes trying to protect their residents from the coronavirus eagerly await boxes of masks, eyewear and gowns promised by the federal government. But all too often the packages deliver disappointment — if they arrive at all. Some contain flimsy surgical masks or cloth face coverings that are explicitly not intended for medical use. Other are missing items or have far less than the full week’s worth of protective equipment the government promised to send. Instead of proper medical gowns, many packages hold large blue plastic ponchos. (Rau, 6/11)
WBUR: HHS Secretary Was Warned Of 'Crisis' At Holyoke Soldiers’ Home Earlier Than Administration Has Said, Documents Suggest
Gov. Charlie Baker has repeatedly said that he and Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders first learned about the deadly coronavirus outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home around 9 p.m. on Sunday, March 29. But emails and phone records provided to WBUR show Sudders may have known about the sudden and catastrophic increase in cases and deaths nearly 24 hours before that time. (Wasser, 6/10)
Boston Globe: Members Of Congress Ask About Bedford VA Staff’s Role In Spread Of Coronavirus Among Veterans
In a letter to VA leaders, Senators Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren and Representatives Seth Moulton and Lori Trahan said they are concerned that staffers who tested positive continued to work and had “unsafe encounters” with staff, patients, and emergency responders. The members of Congress said they had gotten complaints that employees with COVID-19 symptoms were required to keep working, and that some didn’t follow social distancing rules or were not wearing the required protective equipment. (Estes, 6/10)
