Failed infection control means nursing homes could spread the new coronavirus far beyond their walls.
The Life Care Center, which U.S. authorities believe to be the site of the first outbreak in a long-term facility, received a five-star overall rating by federal regulators but previously had been criticized for its infection control procedures.
The worst over the three-year analyzed period was The Westbury Place in Houston, cited for two 8-point violations and two 150-point violations. Among failures cited: Not using sterile equipment for tracheotomy care; not keeping patients in isolation when they had the hard-to-cure infection known as MRSA; and not properly cleaning a catheterized patient for five days.
Felicia Jefferson Wilson could not speak or make her own decisions, and she needed help with all basic tasks, such as moving, eating and personal hygiene. “The concern about the spread of the coronavirus or any infection is particularly more concerning in poor-performing facilities that have a history of quality problems, understaffing and a culture of poor infection control,” he said.
He said skilled nursing facilities in the U.S. already take hundreds of thousands of patients a year when they are discharged from acute care hospitals.Even before the coronavirus appeared, as many as 380,000 people were dying of infections every year in long-term care facilities,. Some studies cited by the CDC have suggested that 1.5 million Americans in long-term care, including nursing homes, may get an infection every other year, sending perhaps 150,000 of them to the hospital.
But Kelley said nursing homes rely on housekeepers, dietary workers and others to keep their facilities operating. Those workers, on the front lines of infection control, may make poverty-level wages and not receive enough sick days or paid time off.A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services plan for addressing nursing home infections said the flu can spread easily among residents who live near each other and frequently see healthcare workers.
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