Cuomo urged to lift limits on nursing home visits | News, Sports, Jobs

Governor Andrew Cuomo gives a COVID-19 update at a press conference in June. (Photo provided – Don Pollard, Governor’s Office)

ALBANY – Lawmakers are calling for Governor Andrew Cuomo to lift remaining restrictions on nursing home visits, according to a letter two dozen Democratic lawmakers sent to the governor this week.

The coronavirus pandemic has taken a heavy toll on nursing homes in New York, where state health officials are cautious about visits. At least 15,800 people living in nursing homes and assisted living homes have died of COVID-19, according to state and federal data, with 3,400 deaths reported from November to mid-February.

But New York lifted many restrictions on nursing home visits this spring in light of federal guidelines that in part paved the way for loved ones to hug residents when both are vaccinated.

Nursing homes in New York are encouraged to offer outdoor and indoor visits, although visits may be restricted once residents or staff test positive. Residents can receive “Empathetic care” Visits that are unrestricted for a variety of scenarios, including residents who are in care for the terminal or in emotional distress. New York also lifted the requirement for visitors to test negative for COVID-19: a move some experts and family members have questioned.

Now some nursing homes allow one or two visitors at a time to visit their loved ones once or twice a week for as little as 30 minutes, sometimes with weekday-limited hours.

“The year before the vaccinations were available, our seniors suffered loneliness and isolation that had a profound effect on their physical and mental health.” wrote the legislature in a letter of July 12 to Cuomo. “While the majority of New Yorkers have had the opportunity to resume pre-COVID-19 life, seniors have been excluded in many nursing homes.”

Christina McComish, 59, of Valatie, said her 88-year-old mother had gone down last year and struggled with isolation, dementia and hearing loss. McComish said it may take days to make appointments to see her mother at opposite ends of a dining table in the lobby of the nursing home for 30 minutes.

She said she hugged her mother on her last visit, although the nursing home advised against it. McComish, who works as a creative art therapist at another nearby nursing home, said it was difficult to know what visiting rights residents and family members have.

She said her mother’s nursing home told her that compassionate care visits were only for “End of life” Scenarios.

“She is vaccinated, I am vaccinated” said McComisch. “She will just die in there, she will just die alone.”

Senator Rachel May, a Democrat from central New York, said lawmakers hear from too many voters who find it difficult to visit their loved ones even after the New York state of emergency ends.

May pushed for a new law that would allow nursing home residents to have limited visits in the event of public health emergencies. New York US Representative Claudia Tenney, a Republican, is calling for a similar bill at the federal level.

“Of course, states need to be in control of out of control public health emergencies.” May said. “Besides that it seems to me that when your nursing home is your home, you should have the right to visit your person, and that should be pretty easy.”

The New York Department of Health last week released updated rules that allow nursing homes to submit subpoenas and enforcement actions for restricting visits without a “Reasonable clinical or safety cause” according to federal law.

However, May said government guidance is still giving care homes too much leeway. For example, such guidelines state that nursing homes should consider scheduling visits for a specific time to ensure that all residents can have visitors while following infection protocols. This includes six feet of social distancing, which is required under state guidance.

It’s unclear whether family members and loved ones have recourse to the state if they believe a nursing home’s rules are too strict and violate state and federal guidelines. The state health department did not immediately provide answers to questions put by the Associated Press on Thursday.

As more New York nursing home residents get vaccinated, infection rates have fallen, from 410 deaths and 1,835 infections reported in the week ended January 17 to five deaths and 10 infections reported in the week ended June 27 .

Nevertheless, 106 residents and 154 employees tested positive in June.

And the cases are increasing nationwide: 5,100 people tested positive in the 7 days leading up to Wednesday. That is 65% more than 3,100 in the previous week.

In eight counties, including Brooklyn, less than 60% of nursing home workers are fully vaccinated. Eight residents tested positive in June at the county’s 364-bed Cobble Hill Health Center, where 57% of staff are fully vaccinated. One resident died.

“We are on high alert to limit the spread as much as possible and cannot repeat the importance of vaccination enough.” Social work director Stephanie Zevon said in a June 12 letter to families. “The vaccines are working. We have seen a wealth of evidence that vaccinated residents who test positive remain asymptomatic. “

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