New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed legislation Wednesday that requires nursing homes to provide residents, authorized family members and guardians “timely notice” when an infection is detected.
“What his law did is really kind of expedite the time frame where providers or facilities are required to provide an update in terms of any infectious outbreak to a period of twelve hours … It really kind of increased the timeliness of reporting to residents in the facility and authorized family members,” Stephen B. Hanse, CEO and president of the New York State Facilities Association, told the McKnight’s Business Daily.
The law also requires facilities to cohort infected patients away from the rest of the community, he said, which providers had been doing during the COVID-19 pandemic, as it helps decrease the spread of the infection and also means there are dedicated staff to work only with these cohorted residents.
“We agree that family members should be notified of infectious disease outbreaks in nursing homes and that nursing homes should follow [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]and [Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services] guidance on cohorting to prevent transmission of infectious diseases. However, we were concerned that notifying family members within 12 hours of each confirmed infection would be excessive and that the new law would lock into statute certain cohorting practices that are no longer best practices for COVID,” Karen Lipson, executive vice president of LeadingAge New York, said. “Moreover, future pandemics may call for different cohorting practices.”
She noted that in the governor’s approval memo, “that the governor and the legislature have agreed to enact amendments to the legislation that will align the requirements with CMS and CDC guidance.”
In other news, the New York Assembly wrote to the governor this week, calling for a meeting of the state’s “Reimagining Long-Term Care Task Force.” The task force was established under law on Dec. 22 to study long-term care services — home-based and skilled nursing facilities — in the state and to provide recommendations to the governor and both houses of the legislature. The task force was meant to go into effect on Oct. 27, but it has not yet met.
“The state’s failure to call for an immediate meeting of the ‘Reimagining Long-Term Care Task Force to begin planning a pathway to improved nursing home outcomes shows a disregard for our state’s seniors,” Assemblyman Josh Jensen (R) said in a statement.
