Protect nursing home residents, staff, and loved ones from the coronavirus
Even if you don’t have a loved one in a Nursing Home or Senior Living facility, we all need to do this: Tell Congress to take immediate action to protect nursing home residents, staff, and their loved ones from this disease.
The recipients of your message and concern should be sent to your Senators and Representative. The following would be an appropriate letter and I recommend this one, or you can draft one of your own.
Nursing homes continue to be a hotbed for the coronavirus infection, with already 20,000 deaths as a result of COVID-19. This is unacceptable. As your constituent, I urge you to act immediately to stem the loss of life and improve conditions in America’s long-term care facilities.
Please implement the following three-point plan to slow the spread and save lives:
1) Care facilities must have the personal protective equipment (PPE) and testing they need to identify cases and prevent the spread of the virus, as well as adequate staffing to provide care.
2) Care facilities must be transparent and report publicly on a daily basis whether they have confirmed COVID-19 cases, and residents and families need information when loved ones are discharged or transferred out of their room or facility.
3) Virtual visitation must be made available and facilitated as a safety measure between residents and their families.
The gravity of this situation cannot be overstated. I strongly urge you to act immediately to protect nursing home residents, staff, their loved ones, and the surrounding communities from this disease. I look forward to your leadership on this issue.
Please do this to help all our seniors who are health facilities and let our congress know we care and are watching. Remember, November is just around the corner.
Thanks to our friends at AARP for this their assistance in this article.
