On October 5, CANHR wrote the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) urging it to withdraw its deceptively named nursing home oversight plan – Quality and Safety State SNF Survey Model – that would divert its inspector workforce by requiring inspectors to conduct collaborative monitoring visits at skilled nursing facilities. CANHR’s letter also urges CDPH to rescind a new duty statement for nursing home inspectors that requires inspectors to spend 30 percent of their time advising and assisting nursing home operators on regulatory matters. The highly controversial duty statement is the subject of an Unfair Practice Charge filed on August 28 by SEIU Local 1000, the union representing RN inspectors, against CDPH.
Latest CANHR Alerts
Nursing Home Residents Describe Devastating Impact of Isolation During the Pandemic in New Report
An October 2020 report by Altarum presents the findings of a survey of residents on how their lives have been impacted by the Covid-19 restrictions. Residents reported a drastic reduction in social activities and a steep increase in feelings of loneliness. The report – Experiences of Nursing Home Residents During the Pandemic – includes direct comments from residents in their own words that speak powerfully to the urgent need to end the extreme isolation that’s been imposed on them.
CANHR Zoom Town Halls
Resident Rights: Voting, Visitation, and More!
On October 13th at 11:00am CANHR hosted a town hall for California residents of long term care, their families, and their friends, addressing key developments including voting rights during the pandemic, rights to visit and to exit facilities, and how to craft effective complaints to regulators to safeguard these rights.
Speakers included CANHR Executive Director Pat McGinnis, CANHR staff attorneys Tony Chicotel and Mike Dark, and CANHR Program Director Julie Pollock.
Material Download:
Useful Links:
CANHR’s Visitation Rights Fact Sheet
Looking up Facilities Approved for Indoor Visitation
Find your local Ombusdman Program office
California Department of Social Services Public Information Notice regarding Influenza, Pneumonia and COVID-19
California Department of Health All Facilities Letter regarding Influenza
Organizing Family Councils
Senior Scams During the Pandemic
Hosted by CANHR Senior Attorney Prescott Cole. During this pandemic, scams targeting seniors are increasing at an alarming rate. Criminals have latched onto COVID-19 as a way to steal money from seniors. In this townhall, we go through several scenarios where con artists use COVID as a pretext to defraud seniors, sometimes costing them their life savings. The information in this townhall is meant to help you and your loved ones protect yourselves from the scam artists taking advantage of seniors’ concerns and fears about the COVID-19 virus.
Materials Download:
Useful Links:
CANHR Consumer Publications Downloads
California State Controller – Defer Property Taxes
Free Credit Reports – Now Weekly Through April 2021
Report Online Vendors Selling Fake Products
IRS Coronavirus Stimulus Payment FAQ
Eldercare Locator – Report Phone Scams
Getting Good Long Term Care in a Pandemic
Hosted by CANHR Staff Attorney Tony Chicotel.
Good long term care should not be a casualty of COVID-19; in fact, it has never been more important. But how can residents and their families ensure that good care is being provided when so many rules have been waived and accountability is missing? In this townhall, we reviewed the state of long term care, including visitation, understaffing, and evictions, and then answer questions about the best way to ensure residents are safe and well cared for during the pandemic.
Materials Downloads:
California Department of Social Services COVID-19 in RCFEs Data < – To view RCFE data, go to the link on the right side of the page entitled “COVID-19 Positive Cases in Adult and Senior Care Facilities.”
Latest California State Visitation Guidelines
New Visitation Fact Sheet Released.
CANHR has reviewed the various federal and California guidance regarding visitation in long term care facilities and synthesized the rules into a new fact sheet to guide residents and their families. The fact sheet highlights the types of visitation nursing homes and residential care facilities for the elderly must provide and under what conditions as well as the infection control protocols facilities may impose during visits.
Download the Fact Sheet HERE (PDF)
New Policy from Department of Public Health Restores Some Visitation Rights in Nursing Homes
On June 26, the California Department of Public Health released a new policy regarding visitation that, for the first time since March, REQUIRES nursing homes to permit visitors for outdoor and indoor visits. Facilities MUST permit outdoor visitation unless there is a local public health order that prohibits it. Indoor visits must be permitted if a facility meets six criteria: no current COVID-19 outbreak, a decline in cases in the community, no new COVID-19 cases in the facility for the past 14 days, no staffing shortages and not using a COVID-19 staffing waiver, an adequate testing plan per AFL 20-53, and an approved COVID-19 Mitigation Plan.
New Guidance from Department of Social Services Restores Some Visitation Rights in Assisted Living Facilities
On June 26, the California Department of Social Services released updated guidance regarding visitation in PIN 20-23-ASC that, for the first time since March, REQUIRES assisted living facilities to permit visitors under specified narrow circumstances, and permits indoor and outdoor visitation when certain criteria are met. Providers are required to follow the guidance unless there are contradictory or stricter requirements imposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), California Department of Public Health (CDPH), or local health departments.
#VisitationSavesLives
Join our #VisitationSavesLives Campaign!
The recent California state policies described in the summaries above may have been partially motivated by our #VisitationSavesLives campaign. Now that residents are having some of their rights restored, the campaign will advocate for better state enforcement.
To read more about this campaign and see how you can help, please visit our Visitation Saves Lives Website.
Latest CANHR Press Release
JACKSON BILL TO REQUIRE BACKUP POWER FOR NURSING HOMES PASSES ASSEMBLY
This Press Release is from California Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson August 30, 2020 SACRAMENTO –As California faces another wildfire season, rolling blackouts, and potential public safety power shutoffs (PSPS) amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara)’s Senate Bill 1207 to require California nursing homes to have backup power for at least 96 hours during an emergency passed the Assembly today.
Contact Governor Newsom
Urge Governor Newsom to Implement CANHR’s Action Plan to Save Lives of Long-Term Care Facility Residents
Published April 10th, Introduction updated May 21st, Recommendations Updated June 24th, 2020, The last few months have been an unimaginable tragedy for many long-term care facility residents and their loved ones throughout California. Thousands of residents have died, suffered severe illnesses, or been hospitalized as COVID-19 outbreaks sweep through their facilities. Locked away from their loved ones, residents are suffering and dying alone in facilities that are not prepared or staffed to keep them safe during this pandemic.
Latest Free Webinar Recordings
COVID-19: Advocating for Nursing Home Residents – Part XI
Courtesy of The National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care The landscape of COVID-19 response in nursing homes continues to evolve rapidly at the federal and state levels. The webinar series from Consumer Voice, Center for Medicare Advocacy, Long Term Care Community Coalition and Justice in Aging reviews the latest updates, issuances from CMS, legislation, and strategies for advocates and families.
Latest Media News Item
Dying of loneliness: How COVID-19 is killing dementia patients
By Allison Griner, Al Jazeera, October 22 2020 [All illustrations by Jawahir Al-Naimi/Al Jazeera] Elderly people living in care homes are not just dying from coronavirus; they are dying because of the response to it. Teresa Palmer is sitting on the back porch of her home in San Francisco when the mobile phone in her hand starts to buzz.