New federal guidelines this week moved long-term care residents and employees to the highest priority for COVID-19 testing, as more organizations call for wider testing in the hard-hit centers.
But one watchdog group called the expanded testing guidance inadequate to stop the virus from continuing to flood thousands of U.S. nursing homes, personal care and assisted living facilities.
The Centers for Disease Control released the new guidance Monday, moving workers in congregate care settings and nursing home residents with symptoms into the highest priority for coronavirus testing.
Previously, those workers were considered the lowest priority and nursing home residents were below hospital patients and health care workers.
Asymptomatic congregate care workers, and perhaps their residents, may also qualify for high priority status under “persons identified through public health cluster and selected contact investigations,” according to a spokesman for Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey.
Earlier this month, Toomey, R-Allentown, requested the White House coronavirus task force bump up those workers and residents, and direct commercial and public labs to prioritize those samples.
“Ensuring adequate testing capacity and rapid results are available for those who live and work in nursing homes will save lives and mitigate further spread,.” Toomey said in a press release.
Industry groups representing long-term care operators recently have become more vocal about the need to expand rapid testing in facilities as part of mitigation efforts with the virus.
In a press call Wednesday, the head of the largest U.S. nursing home lobby acknowledged that only a “very small” percentage of nursing home residents and staff have been tested for COVID-19 because they were not considered a top priority by state and federal governments.
“Without access to more testing, long-term care providers are at a severe disadvantage in identifying more of these asymptomatic residents and staff,” said Mark Parkinson, CEO and president of the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living, which represents more than 14,000 facilities.
Parkinson said that many long-term care facilities have undertaken expanded testing on their own and they are finding a high number of residents and staff who test positive, but without symptoms.
“We are hopeful (the guidance change) will immediately improve our ability to get those tests and get test results quickly,” he said, adding that test results in some cases have been delayed as long as a week.
But a nursing home watchdog group believes there is a pot of money available right now for nursing home operators to implement rapid in-house testing.
Over the last three years alone, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has collected $250 million dollars that could be used to fund testing, said Brian Lee, executive director of Families for Better Care. The money was collected in fines and penalties against long-term care operators, he said.
Pennsylvania’s share of that money is $9.1 million, or $13,000 for each of the state’s 697 licensed skilled-nursing facilities, Lee said. A rapid test machine costs roughly $4,500, he said.
Families for Better Care has asked CMS to streamline the application for the funds to go specifically for the equipment for rapid testing, Lee said.
He added that while an improvement, the CDC change won’t slow infection rates unless it includes asymptomatic residents and workers.
“To not do so is nothing short of passive euthanasia, and it's going to change to deliberate euthanasia,” Lee added. “We’re going to lose a generation of our parents and grandparents if we don’t do testing.”
Coronavirus in long-term care
Do you know someone who lives or works in a long-term care center where coronavirus is present? We want to hear your story.
Contact Jo Ciavaglia at 215-949-4181 or jciavaglia@couriertimes.com with your information.
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