MUCH HAS BEEN WRITTEN about the legalization of sports betting in the Commonwealth. The introduction of this much-debated and formerly illegal pastime is a tribute to the power of the gambling industry in Massachusetts. Meanwhile, with the conclusion of the Legislature’s formal sessions, a bill that would have taken some of the gamble out of […]
nursing homes
Posted inOpinion
Nursing homes need support — and more accountability
A WEEK AGO CommonWealth featured an op-ed by a representative of the nursing home industry entitled “Nursing home situation grows dire again.” The gist of the article was a plea to the Massachusetts Legislature for $238 million in additional funding for nursing homes, ostensibly to raise the pay of the caregiving staff. A more accurate title […]
Posted inOpinion
Nursing home situation grows dire again
IT’S BEEN TWO LONG, arduous, and devastating years since Massachusetts, the country, and indeed the world, were thrown into a terrifying situation as the COVID-19 pandemic swept through our communities. For nursing homes, the impact was especially severe as we came to understand that elders with underlying medical conditions, which describes most of our residents, […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker order requires nursing home staff to be vaccinated
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER announced Wednesday that the state will require all nursing home and long-term care facility staff to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 by October 10. The decision marks an evolution for the Republican governor, who has resisted imposing vaccine mandates on public employees. The decision is intended to protect the population most vulnerable to COVID-19 — the elderly. Some major area hospitals have issued […]
Posted inOpinion
Nursing homes have made staff gains, but more needed
MASSACHUSETTS NURSING facilities were at a crisis point regarding staffing even prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, due primarily to the inability to pay a competitive wage. In Massachusetts alone, there were an estimated 5,600 vacant direct care nursing positions pre-COVID-19. To address the ongoing urgent need to meet the care needs of the Commonwealth’s most […]
Posted inHealth Care
Nursing homes may be turning the corner on COVID
NURSING HOMES have accounted for the bulk of deaths from COVID-19 in Massachusetts since last April, but that may be starting to change. Long-term care facilities, which cater to older people with underlying health conditions, were once the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in Massachusetts. The disease swept through the facilities and the death toll […]
Posted inUncategorized
State drags its feet on nursing home Medicaid terminations
ON AUGUST 3, the Baker administration sent letters to three nursing homes informing them that a series of care violations had precipitated their ouster from the state’s Medicaid program, the financial lifeline of nearly every nursing home in Massachusetts. The letters made it sound as if residents of the three homes were in physical danger. […]
Posted inThe Download
At Pittsfield nursing home, outsiders are suspected cause of outbreak
Amid rising coronavirus case numbers, Gov. Charlie Baker has pointed to community spread and informal gatherings at home as the leading culprit. Now, legislators and health officials are following his lead in trying to explain the outbreak of the virus and death toll at Hillcrest Commons in Pittsfield. The number of COVID-19 deaths at the […]
Posted inUncategorized
At Pittsfield nursing home, outsiders are suspected cause of outbreak
AMID RISING coronavirus case numbers, Gov. Charlie Baker has pointed to community spread and informal gatherings at home as the leading culprit. Now, legislators and health officials are following his lead in trying to explain the outbreak of the virus and death toll at Hillcrest Commons in Pittsfield. The number of COVID-19 deaths at the […]
Posted inHealth Care
Nursing homes lacked PPE in Aug., report says
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A NEW REPORT measuring personal protective equipment shortages at nursing homes nationwide found that 8 percent were without one or more types of PPE in August. The report, a US PIRG Education Fund and Frontier Group analysis of data submitted to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services from May through […]