Senior Housing News recognizes the seriousness of the Covid-19 pandemic, so we will be updating this bulletin to keep you apprised of the latest developments, focusing on news and information that we identify as especially pertinent to senior living. The team at SHN knows how important your work is right now; we thank you and your teams, and encourage you to reach out to us individually or at editor@seniorhousingnews.com with news items, topics that you believe are important for coverage, or other feedback.
Senior care staffing practices — namely sharing workers across multiple locations, and having workers on the job while sick — drove the spread of Covid-19 at the Kirkland skilled nursing facility and across the Seattle region, according to an analysis released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC).
Here’s what you need to know for Wednesday, March 18, 2020:
- “Limitations in effective infection control and prevention and staff members working in multiple facilities contributed to intra- and interfacility spread.” Read the whole CDC report on how Covid-19 spread through long-term care settings in Washington.
- National Health Investors (NYSE: NHI) has updated its website to segment its portfolio by coronavirus testing and diagnosis status. So far, no active cases have been reported in communities owned by the Murfreesboro, Tennessee-based REIT.
- The New York Times reports on social isolation among seniors as a result of Covid-19.
- Older adults living at home face a “host of challenges,” Kaiser Health News reported.
- “Our experienced staff remains onsite and has implemented additional quarantine protocols,” Atria Senior Living stated, as the large Louisville, Kentucky-based provider responded to a Covid-19 outbreak at a Fort Lauderdale community.
Here’s what you need to know for Tuesday, March 17, 2020:
- Ventas drew $2.75B from revolving line of credit, withdrew 2020 guidance.
- Welltower announced two Covid-19 diagnoses in its senior housing portfolio; CEO Tom DeRosa touted senior living as a key setting for keeping coronavirus patients out of hospitals to maintain bed availability.
- Brookdale has drawn on its full revolving line of credit, stopped its share repurchasing program and halted some capex projects as expenses have grown due to Covid-19.
- The first cases of coronavirus in senior living in the state of Georgia were reported, involving three residents and an employee of a Phoenix Senior Living building.
- CMS updated guidance for PACE programs.
Here’s what you need to know for Monday, March 16, 2020:
- Two more senior living communities in Kirkland, Washington, have reported cases of Covid-19. A Life Care Centers community here was hit in the early days of the U.S. outbreak and has lost more than two-dozen residents to the virus.
- The Dow plummeted nearly 3,000 points on Monday after plunging late last week. Senior housing related stocks continued to be affected, with the “Big 3” REITs all down more than 20% and Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE: BKD) trading down nearly 36% at the close.
- Irvine, California-based Healthpeak (NYSE: PEAK) — one of the Big 3 REITs — issued a Covid-19 update. The company expects a deterioration in performance relative to expectations at least for the next few months.
- Industry associations Argentum and ASHA urged Congress to exempt senior living providers from certain provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act that they argued would “decimate” providers’ workforces.
- Personal care aides are among the workers most at-risk from Covid-19, according to a New York Times analysis.
- Covid-19 infections continue to spread among health care professionals generally, with workers in five states testing positive over the weekend.
- Testing for an experimental coronavirus vaccine got underway Monday, with the first volunteer receiving the shot in Seattle.
The post Covid-19 News Bulletin: Senior Care Staffing Practices Drove Infections in Washington appeared first on Senior Housing News.
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