TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas has stepped up nursing home inspections after four elderly patients died in two major COVID-19 outbreaks this week.
But a state official says more needs to be done.
“All our focus right now is on that issue of infection control,” said Laura Howard, secretary of the Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services.
Howard said state and federal inspectors are visiting long-term care facilities considered at high risk of infection, including the state’s five nursing homes owned by Life Care Center. The Tennessee-based company’s nursing homes have had a series of deadly outbreaks from the virus.
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“We are going into facilities making sure they understand” how to stop the spread of the virus, Howard said.
Federal nursing home operating guidelines, released last week, are also getting tough.
According to federal officials, all nursing home staff should wear masks. The guidelines even recommend that residents wear a mask when interacting with staff. If there aren’t enough masks for residents, than the resident should use their hands to block their face when staff approach them, according to the guidelines.
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Howard said the best way to stay ahead of the virus is to do more testing of both staff and residents.
“Part of the challenge we are facing not just in nursing homes but elsewhere is the lack of testing early on,” Howard said.
“In an ideal world, we would have the ability to do more rapid testing, the ability in the case of possible staff exposure to test a number of people quickly not just when an outbreak happens.”
With more testing, infected people can be quickly isolated. Howard hopes more tests will become available in the next couple of weeks so nursing homes can start using them more regularly.
Johnson County isn’t waiting for the state. It’s purchased 750 COVID-19 tests, and by next week will be using them at nursing homes.
