Helping Get the Word Out About CT Nursing Homes Housing COVID19 Non-Acute Patients
Copy of Information Shared by CT Rep. Maria Horn on FB as follows:
EXECUTIVE ORDER SIGNED RE NURSING HOME SURGE PLAN
Following on Wednesday’s announcement re the creation of COVID Recovery Facilities (CRFs) as part of the nursing home surge plan, this evening Governor Lamont signed an executive order implementing the nursing home surge plan. CRFs, including Sharon Health Care, will accept patients who can be discharged from acute care hospitals but are still impacted by COVID-19 infection.
There is also a statement from the Governor’s Office below. Please reach out to me with any questions as this moves forward - Maria.Horn@cga.ct.gov. Another resource is Connecticut Long Term Care Ombudsman Program. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday Ombudsman Mairead Painter hosts a FB Live at 5:30 pm to answer questions concerning residents of long term care facilities.
From the Governor’s announcement of the Executive Order:
The order establishes the first two COVID-19 recovery centers at Sharon Health Care Center in Sharon and Northbridge Healthcare Center in Bridgeport, and gives authority to Department of Public Health (DPH) Commissioner Renée D. Coleman-Mitchell to create additional centers at other locations throughout the state as needed. Commissioner Coleman-Mitchell announced that she intends to authorize the formation of a recovery center at the Torrington Health and Rehab Center in Torrington, and is in the process of finalizing details for additional recovery centers in other locations that are anticipated to be announced in the coming days.
Residents of long-term care facilities represent our most vulnerable population during this pandemic, as the virus can spread quickly within the enclosed environment such as a nursing home. Staff are also vulnerable and need enough supplies of personal protective equipment to prevent them from falling ill. We are committed to doing everything we can to make sure our nursing home residents get the care they need and that nursing home staff are protected with enough equipment.
These new COVID-19 recovery centers will provide hundreds of new beds for COVID-19 care all over the state, and this will help to make hospital beds available to absorb the surge of hospitalizations we anticipate in the next couple of weeks. Nursing homes partnering with us in this critical effort – especially their staff -- are providing an invaluable service to the people of our state and we cannot thank them enough.
The Connecticut Department of Social Services and the Office of Policy and Management have determined a specific payment rate of $600 per day for the COVID-19 recovery centers, and additional payments of 10 percent across the board for all nursing homes in Connecticut during the course of the pandemic. This recognizes the additional costs being experienced by the industry at large.
We hope this provides you with critical information you need and that you can share with your community of stakeholders. We are all in this together, and none of us have ever been through a pandemic as severe as COVID-19. If we need to adjust our plans along the way to respond to circumstances on the ground, this plan gives our administration the ability to be flexible and deploy resources as needed.
We appreciate all of your hard work on the ground during these extremely tough times.
