A year after legislation required facilities to develop Pandemic Emergency Plans to ensure clear communication, adequate staffing and supplies, as well as effective infection control protocols, a review of dozens of plans reveals deficiencies that could lead to a repeat of last spring’s tragedy.
New York, NY (July 29, 2021) – A report reviewing nursing homes’ compliance with a new state law reveals that, failing to learn from prior mistakes, nursing homes’ pandemic emergency plans (PEPs) are grossly inadequate. The report, Will the Next Pandemic Lead to More Nursing Home Resident Death and Despair?: Nursing Homes and the Department of Health are Failing to Comply with New State Law on Pandemic Emergency Plans, found that nursing homes’ PEPs lack actionable details, parrot the requirements, and fail to assign tasks to ensure accountability. While most facilities posted a document on their website as required, the gaps in communication plans, infection control and prevention protocols, and supply and staffing patterns, continue to leave residents and staff vulnerable to future outbreaks of COVID-19 or a novel pandemic situation. This is of particular concern as the Delta variant has driven up case counts in New York City and across the country.
Between March 1, 2020, and May 31, 2020, almost 10,000 nursing home residents in New York State died due to COVID-19, and thousands more experienced serious illness and hospitalization from the virus. During this time, nursing homes lacked both sufficient staffing and the personal protective equipment (PPE) necessary to keep staff and residents safe. Families, barred from visiting loved ones, complained that virtual visits were infrequent, and communication was lacking about their loved ones’ health and the level of virus exposure in the facility.
In response, New York State enacted a law requiring nursing homes to develop PEPs to address the shortcomings exposed during the height of the pandemic. The New York State Department of Health (DOH) provided facilities with a template with 35 required or recommended points to address in their plans that must be available for review by state officials and posted on facilities’ websites.
In response, New York State enacted a law requiring nursing homes to develop PEPs to address the shortcomings exposed during the height of the pandemic. The New York State Department of Health (DOH) provided facilities with a template with 35 required or recommended points to address in their plans that must be available for review by state officials and posted on facilities’ websites.
Mobilization for Justice and Fellows from the Solomon Center for Health Law and Policy at Yale Law School reviewed the plans of the 40 nursing homes that reported the highest number of in-facility resident deaths last fall. All but one posted a PEP on their websites. But as MFJ’s new report details, many of these had serious flaws:
• Plans failed to address the 22 areas required by the Department of Health’s template and instructions
• Plans parroted the instructions, often with little elaboration, restating the goal without articulating a plan to achieve it
• Plans lacked details necessary to ensure accountability.
“A statement that a facility will have a 60-day supply of PPE or will maintain contact with all residents’ families on a weekly basis is not a plan,” said Daniel A. Ross, a senior staff attorney at Mobilization for Justice and one of the authors of the report. “Plans must explain how facilities intend to achieve pandemic preparedness goals. It’s not enough to simply restate the goals from the statute.”
Based on its review of the law, state guidance, and more than three dozen PEPs, Mobilization for Justice recommends that:
• DOH must review the adequacy of PEPs to ensure that nursing home residents are protected during future pandemics.
• Facilities must identify specific methods for achieving goals articulated in PEPs.
• Facilities must identify clear roles for particular staff to execute plans.
• Facilities must link to other policies if they refer to them in the PEP.
• Facilities must post their plans in an accessible format that can be easily read by screenreading software used by blind people and others with visual impairments.
“As we’ve seen all too clearly since March 2020, emergency planning cannot wait for an emergency,” said Kevin M. Cremin, Director of Litigation for Disability and Aging Rights at Mobilization for Justice. “The DOH must enforce this vital law. The lives of thousands of residents depend on it.”
“As of March 2021, COVID-19 nursing home deaths accounted for nearly 25% of the total NYS COVID death toll. These are deaths that could’ve been avoided however, our nursing homes were unprepared and ill-equipped to fight back against the virus. This report by Mobilization for Justice highlights the need for us to have stronger Pandemic Emergency Plans, and be more prepared to protect our elderly New Yorkers,” said State Senator Julia Salazar, who sponsored the bill requiring the development of pandemic emergency plans. “We must continue to prioritize the well-being of our most vulnerable populations and that starts with ensuring that our nursing homes have Pandemic Emergency Plans that will keep their residents safe. Mobilization for Justice’s findings and recommendations should be acknowledged and implemented state-wide as soon as possible.”
About Mobilization for Justice, Inc. (MFJ)
Mobilization for Justice’s mission is to achieve social justice, prioritizing the needs of people who are low-income, disenfranchised or have disabilities. We do this by providing the highest quality direct civil legal assistance, conducting community education and building partnerships, engaging in policy advocacy, and bringing impact litigation with a focus on four key areas: Housing, Economic Justice, Disability & Aging Rights, and Children’s Rights. Mobilization for Justice has long been in the vanguard of developing unique legal practice areas that serve thecomplex needs of New Yorkers, including nursing home and adult home residents.