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Boosting emergency preparedness plans for Virginia’s assisted living communities and nursing facilities is the goal of a pilot program.

The Virginia Health Care Association / Virginia Center for Assisted Living has received a $290,000 grant from the Virginia Department of Health to launch a pilot project to build an emergency preparedness infrastructure to support the commonwealth’s long-term care providers.

The Virginia Long Term Care Infrastructure Pilot Project will work with the state’s 564 assisted living communities and 287 nursing facilities to help identify emergency preparedness risks and vulnerabilities, and provide information and resources to help providers address identified and emerging challenges.

The plans will cover “any and all” cause emergencies, according to Amy Hewett, VHCA/VCAL vice president of strategy and communications, including man-made and natural events, severe weather, power outages, chemical spills, environmental hazards, active shooter events and disease outbreaks. 

“We are very excited about this project and the chance to build on lessons learned from the pandemic and other emergencies to help facilities identify their needs to respond appropriately,” April Payne, VHCA/VCAL chief quality and regulatory affairs officer, said in a statement

Hewett told McKnight’s Senior Living that the grant is about “building the interconnectedness between providers, the state and healthcare coalitions” that help long-term care facilities with mutual aid response. She said the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted an additional need to build an understanding of the needs of long-term care providers.

“It’s building that infrastructure and partnership between the provider, assisted living communities and the state so the state has an understanding of what facility needs might be,” Hewett said, adding that VHCA/VCAL appreciates the state looking at the “critical role” assisted living plays in the care continuum.

The association is partnering with engineering and consulting services firm Jensen Hughes on the project, which will work with providers and a project coordinator to assess facilities’ needs, which will inform the next steps of the project. Project funding runs from late 2022 to July 2024. VHCA/VCAL had its funding renewed for a second year. 

VHCA/VCAL was one of nine organizations awarded part of $9.9 million in funds to assist with ongoing COVID-19 response in long-term care facilities as part of the state department of health’s VLIPP Projects program, funded by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as part of the Nursing Home & Long-Term Care Facility Strike Team and Infrastructure project. 

Health Quality Innovators and the Virginia Department of Social Services also received grants from the state to conduct onsite infection prevention control assessment and reassessments at assisted living communities and adult day centers.