“We’ve got to do things that make more sense for these residents, make more sense for these families.“ He said continued isolation is inflicting a heavy toll. “We’ve never had a real long, lengthy period of time where we’re able to have visitors,” said Jason Santiago, chief operating officer at The Manor at Seneca Hill in Oswego, New York. Some family members, administrators and advocates complain that the recommendation has led to frequent lockdowns because of one or two cases.
The guidance says most visits should be suspended for at least 14 days. Rauenzahn’s Pennsylvania nursing home has been limiting most residents to a single, 30-minute visit every two weeks.Īdvocates also take issue with federal guidance on how nursing homes deal with new COVID-19 cases. Some facilities limit visiting hours to weekdays, making it difficult for people who work during the day, or restrict visits to once or twice a week. They should have that right to come and go and have the visitors that they choose.”Ī recent survey by National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care, an advocacy group, found time limits on visits remain commonplace, ranging from 15 minutes to two hours. “We’ve done our darndest to advocate for folks to get those visitation rights,” she said. Administrators have been doing what they feel is necessary to keep people safe, she said, but families are understandably upset. Kim Shetler, a data specialist in the ombudman’s office, said some nursing homes’ COVID-19 restrictions go beyond what state and federal guidelines require. Pennsylvania’s long-term care ombudsman has received hundreds of complaints about visiting rules this year. “I believe it’s progressed her dementia,” Graceley said. But it has not been not enough, as far as Graceley is concerned. Rauenzahn’s daughters eventually won the right to see her once a week, and the nursing home now says it plans to relax the rules on visits for all residents in late June. Rauenzahn had COVID-19 and then lost part of a leg to gangrene, but Graceley said what she struggled with the most was enforced solitude, going from six-day-a-week visits to none at all. “They have protected them to death,” said Denise Gracely, whose 80-year-old mother, Marian Rauenzahn, lives in a nursing home in Topton, Pennsylvania. They say the measures are now just prolonging older people’s isolation and accelerating their mental and physical decline. Visits are limited and must be kept short, and are cut off entirely if someone tests positive for the coronavirus.įamily members and advocates question the need for such restrictions at this stage of the pandemic, when the risk is comparatively low. Residents are dining in relative isolation and playing bingo and doing crafts at a distance. Hugs and kisses are still discouraged or banned in some nursing homes. 1 year into COVID pandemic, Sebring couple still outside hospital almost daily praying for health care workers, patientsįrustration has set in as families around the country visit their moms and, this Father’s Day weekend, their dads.
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