The New York City Health Department is developing a new program to bolster infection control practices in nursing homes in preparation for the next possible contagious viral outbreak, The Post has learned.
The department’s new effort also aims to keep emerging COVID-19 variants in check in the Big Apple’s 245 nursing homes and adult care facilities, many of which were hard-hit at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.
The plan will focus on training and educating nursing care workers on the proper use of N95 respiratory masks and other personal protective equipment, according to a proposal sent to potential contractors who would set up the “respiratory protection program.”
The new training program for congregate facilities will also cover the city’s 2,000 group homes for people with developmental disabilities.
The winning bidder will set up the ramped-up infection control program, at a cost of $687,339.
Many of the facilities were unprepared for the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, leading to the massive spread of infection and deaths of more than 15,000 nursing home residents statewide.
Some health care workers even complained they lacked adequate respiratory masks and other PPE during the peak of the outbreak in 2020. The Post, in an expose, showed hospital nurses who wore trash bags as protection after complaining they didn’t have medical gowns.
A controversial state policy under former Gov. Andrew Cuomo also required nursing homes to accept recovering COVID-19 patients from hospitals during the peak of the outbreak, which some analysts said contributed to the number of infections and deaths among frail and vulnerable elderly residents. Cuomo and state health officials denied any connection.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed substantial gaps in infection prevention and control knowledge and practice where healthcare is delivered,” the Fund for Public Health, the non-profit fundraising arm for the city Health Department, said in a contract proposal submitted to bidders.
“These challenges are particularly acute in long-term care facilities and other congregate settings, nursing homes and adult care facilities, where groups of people reside, receive healthcare, and gather in close proximity,” the proposal states.
“To stop the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory infections, all personnel in these facilities need at least a foundational understanding of IPC [infection protection and control] and how to appropriately use personal protective equipment (PPE), including face masks and N95 respirators.”
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended nursing care staff wear N95 masks, eye goggles, gowns and gloves when caring for individuals with confirmed or suspected COVID-19.
But city officials said, “many LTCFs [long term care facilities] and other congregate settings do not have the resources to fit test staff or maintain a respiratory protection program (RPP).”
“A foundation of IPC [infection protection and control] knowledge and a culture of respiratory safety throughout LTCFs [long-term care facilities] and other congregate settings keeps healthcare/non-healthcare workers, residents, visitors, and the environment safe from COVID-19 and other infectious disease threats,” officials said.
“This PROJECT aims to facilitate the development, implementation, and maintenance of RPPs [respiration protection programs] to minimize exposure to SARS-CoV-2 and prevent transmission of COVID-19 in high-risk LTCFs and congregate settings,” the proposal states.
A New York metro region nursing home industry representative said it’s smart policy and practice to improve infection control measures post-COVID-19.
“There’s something new that could come down the pike. We don’t know what mother nature will bring us,” said Michael Balboni, a member of Mayor Eric Adams’ COVID-19 task force who is executive director of the New York Health Care Facilities Association.
“It’s always good to evaluate the effectiveness of the infection control protocols,” added Balboni, who represents 90 nursing homes in around the city.
He noted that most nursing home residents and staffers have been vaccinated for COVID-19, so the infection controls are aimed toward curbing future viral outbreaks.
Nursing homes are regulated by the state Health Department, not the city health agency. But city health officials are responsible to curb or prevent the spread of infectious disease in the five boroughs.
Under the contract, the medical consultants are required to conduct an assessment of the nursing homes and other congregate facilities through a questionnaire, site visits, interviews with experts in infection control and then issuing a report with recommendations laying out best practices via training programs, including presentations online.
The vendor also will conduct at least 142 in-person “train-the-trainer sessions” to educate safety directors at nursing homes on how to fit-test masks, who will then train their workers on how to properly use them. The contractors will buy the masks.
Balboni, the nursing home lobbyist, said a state Health Department regulation requires that facilities are well stocked with masks and other PPE.
But he said some nursing homes, particularly upstate, are struggling with a shortage of staff as another issue that has to be addressed by policymakers.
Balboni also said it’s “way past time” that an independent study be conducted on “what worked and what didn’t work” during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has commissioned such an analysis but the results won’t be released until after the fall elections.
Hochul, the former lieutenant governor who replaced Cuomo after the Democrat resigned in a sexual misconduct and harassment scandal a year ago, is running for election to stay on as the Empire State’s chief executive.
The Democrat incumbent faces off against Long Island Rep. Lee Zeldin, the Republican nominee for governor, who has called for a special prosecutor to investigate COVID-19-linked nursing home deaths.
The CDC reports 73,552 confirmed or suspected deaths linked to COVID-19 in New York State, including 41,403 fatalities in the city.
https://nypost.com/2022/08/28/nyc-ramps-up-infection-control-in-nursing-homes/
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