Protecting All

Hello All,

I hope this finds you all well! I probably speak for many when I say I am experiencing some quarantine fatigue – but I am sure I can hang in longer. It does help that I am the grocery store shopper for my little mom and Bob. Actually, I have begun to refer to this activity as scavenger hunting, because you never know what will or will not be on the shelves! Makes the whole trip very exciting! And I know the grocery store workers will be happy when I have more social outlets since I LOVE talking to them! I am sure they wonder what on Earth I am doing!

 I will try not to get too political in this blog (I am sure Bob just snickered!). This necessary quarantine has provided ample time for me to think about some of the health issues that have been highlighted by the pandemic and need to be discussed/changed. I am especially referring to the care of our frail elderly and infirm adults,  and the socioeconomic divide that exists which has impacted people’s health and mortality.

It has been highlighted both in Virginia and across the nation that post-acute/long-term care providers, and notably our nursing homes, have often been “ground zero” for Covid 19’s spread and mortality. I was impressed with Governor Northam’s creation of the nursing home task force. The task force’s goal was to make sure these critical care providers had personnel protective equipment (PPE), testing supplies and capabilities and cleaning supplies. In addition, they worked to strengthen staffing during the pandemic and infection control policies and procedures. Governor Northam also worked closely with the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association (VHHA) to help the post-acute care providers.

President Trump worked with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to require nursing  homes to inform residents, their families/representatives of Covid 19 cases in their facilities. Another component of the CMS support is the mandatory reporting of Covid 19 cases from the nursing homes to the CDC.  This allows better national tracking.

Lovely actions – but not nearly enough! Don’ t you wonder why these facilities didn’t have enough PPE to start with? The post-acute care providers, and notably the nursing homes, are the most underfunded resources we have. They are entrusted to care for our elderly, for our infirm/incapacitated adults literally on a shoe string. It is time to do a total overhaul of the industry – researching best practice sites across the entire nation and defining methodologies to roll out those practices, evaluating the entire reimbursement structure and improving the reimbursement, and defining new staffing strategies that do not put the residents and staff at risk.

Our Commonwealth’s Health Equity group defined high risk neighborhoods and sent masks and hand sanitizers distributed there. They sent educational information about Covid 19 in the languages most commonly spoken there. This was important, and they are doing great work.  But once again, we need to do more. Across the state and the nation, our black and brown people experienced the highest morbidity and mortality. That is often in relationship to the socioeconomic divide that exists. They are also less likely to have access to or ability to afford routine, preventative care – care which would help them to have chronic illnesses diagnosed and treated to set them up for future good health.

I want many things to go back to normal. I don’t want these things to do so. We need to improve the “normal” to support all of our citizens. We need to improve the care and support for our elderly and infirm. We need to significantly improve access to care so that all have a healthy future.

I know – I like to dream big. I also believe we have dedicated people working hard on this – evidenced by the work of our local Free Clinics, many of our community coalitions, etc. I also know we can do more working together!

Stay safe. Stay healthy.

Phyl