Senior living communities are not healthcare settings and should not be regulated as such, Argentum told the federal government Tuesday.
In a letter to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Argentum President and CEO James Balda argued that senior living communities are “home” to many older adults and provide only limited healthcare services. In addition, assisted living communities are a “lower-risk environment” than hospital and non-hospital ambulatory care settings, which were exempt from OSHA’s emergency temporary standard in certain cases, he said.
“As such, it is our position that ALFs should not be considered ‘healthcare settings’ and should not be subject to any further requirements imposed by OSHA’s rulemaking,” Balda wrote.
The CEO sent the letter in response to OSHA’s proposed COVID-19 healthcare rule. It’s the fifth time the association has offered public comments on the rule, in addition to Balda’s testimony at a hearing in the spring. Argentum, along with other senior living industry leaders, described the rule as “overly prescriptive” and called for broader requirements and flexibility to enable providers to respond to changing circumstances.
OSHA initially announced a COVID-19 healthcare emergency temporary standard in 2021. It required assisted living communities and some other settings to conduct hazard assessments, have written plans to mitigate the spread of COVId-19, provide employees with personal protective equipment and implement social distancing, employee screening, and cleaning and disinfecting protocols.
The agency withdrew the non-recordkeeping parts of the standard in December 2021.
Argentum’s position, Balda said, is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which adjusted its COVID-19 infection prevention and control guidance for healthcare settings last fall, offering assisted living the option of following either the COVID-19-related recommendations for healthcare settings or the more flexible recommendations for congregate care settings.
“That guidance noted that certain long-term care settings — including specifically assisted living — should follow community prevention strategies,” Balda stated, adding that comments submitted to OSHA last year by residents, family members, caregivers and advocates underscored how proposed restrictions — including isolation, masking and physical barriers — would be “detrimental” to residents’ well-being.
