DHSS Updates Guidance for Visitation at Delaware’s Long-Term Care Facilities
Delaware Health and Social Services | Division of Public Health | News | Date Posted: Friday, March 26, 2021
Delaware Health and Social Services | Division of Public Health | News | Date Posted: Friday, March 26, 2021
NEW CASTLE (March 26, 2021) – The Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) has updated its guidance to Delaware’s long-term care facilities following recent federal recommendations that allow for expanded indoor visitation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The guidance was updated last week and was sent to the state’s 86 long-term care (LTC) facilities; it can be found here. The updated guidelines follow the release earlier this month of revised visitation recommendations by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in response to reductions in COVID-19 infections and transmission and increased vaccination rates in the nursing home population.
“As COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations decrease in Delaware and our vaccinations increase, we know that families and close friends of residents of nursing homes and assisted-living facilities are eager to have in-person indoor visitation with their loved ones once again,” DHSS Secretary Molly Magarik said. “We are pleased that our Division of Health Care Quality and Division of Public Health have come up with a reopening and visitation plan that supports long-term care facilities in making that happen.”
Highlights of the guidance include:
Indoor visitation
Required visitation
Outdoor visitation
Compassionate Care Visits
Visitor Testing and Vaccinations
The updated plan also includes sections on communal dining and activities and on indoor visitations during a COVID-19 outbreak. The state defines an outbreak as a single new COVID-19 infection in a facility staff or any LTC facility onset COVID-19 infection in a resident. A resident admitted to the facility with COVID-19 does not constitute a facility outbreak.
If members of the public find the visitation is not occurring as per the guidance, complaints can be filed with the Division of Health Care Quality:
To protect residents and staff, visitation was discontinued at Delaware’s long-term care facilities beginning in mid-March 2020, when the state’s first positive COVID-19 case was announced. Starting in June 2020, when positive COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations had declined in Delaware, eligible nursing homes and assisted-living facilities were able to submit plans for outdoor visitation. And in September 2020, eligible facilities could submit plans to resume indoor visitation. With the COVID-19 surge that began in December 2020, visitation was once again restricted until the end of February 2021.
Related Topics: CMS, Coronavirus, Health Care Quality, long-term care, medicaid, medicare
Keep up to date by receiving a daily digest email, around noon, of current news release posts from state agencies on news.delaware.gov.
Here you can subscribe to future news updates.
Delaware Health and Social Services | Division of Public Health | News | Date Posted: Friday, March 26, 2021
NEW CASTLE (March 26, 2021) – The Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) has updated its guidance to Delaware’s long-term care facilities following recent federal recommendations that allow for expanded indoor visitation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The guidance was updated last week and was sent to the state’s 86 long-term care (LTC) facilities; it can be found here. The updated guidelines follow the release earlier this month of revised visitation recommendations by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in response to reductions in COVID-19 infections and transmission and increased vaccination rates in the nursing home population.
“As COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations decrease in Delaware and our vaccinations increase, we know that families and close friends of residents of nursing homes and assisted-living facilities are eager to have in-person indoor visitation with their loved ones once again,” DHSS Secretary Molly Magarik said. “We are pleased that our Division of Health Care Quality and Division of Public Health have come up with a reopening and visitation plan that supports long-term care facilities in making that happen.”
Highlights of the guidance include:
Indoor visitation
Required visitation
Outdoor visitation
Compassionate Care Visits
Visitor Testing and Vaccinations
The updated plan also includes sections on communal dining and activities and on indoor visitations during a COVID-19 outbreak. The state defines an outbreak as a single new COVID-19 infection in a facility staff or any LTC facility onset COVID-19 infection in a resident. A resident admitted to the facility with COVID-19 does not constitute a facility outbreak.
If members of the public find the visitation is not occurring as per the guidance, complaints can be filed with the Division of Health Care Quality:
To protect residents and staff, visitation was discontinued at Delaware’s long-term care facilities beginning in mid-March 2020, when the state’s first positive COVID-19 case was announced. Starting in June 2020, when positive COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations had declined in Delaware, eligible nursing homes and assisted-living facilities were able to submit plans for outdoor visitation. And in September 2020, eligible facilities could submit plans to resume indoor visitation. With the COVID-19 surge that began in December 2020, visitation was once again restricted until the end of February 2021.
Related Topics: CMS, Coronavirus, Health Care Quality, long-term care, medicaid, medicare
Keep up to date by receiving a daily digest email, around noon, of current news release posts from state agencies on news.delaware.gov.
Here you can subscribe to future news updates.