AARP Arizona Director To Congress: Nursing Homes Need COVID-19 Plan
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AARP is calling on Congress to improve conditions in long-term care facilities. On Thursday, the US House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health Care held a hearing about the state of long-term care facilities.
Lawmakers heard from a panel of aging experts, including one from Arizona.
Dana Marie Kennedy is the state director for AARP Arizona. She called on lawmakers to implement a five-point plan to slow the spread of COVID-19 in long-term care facilities.
"In Arizona assisted living facilities still report they don't have adequate PPE. This is 15 weeks after not allowing families to visit and this is unacceptable. Testing is also not available or happening in many nursing homes and long term care facilities. In Arizona, skilled nursing facilities have done one round of tests of staff and residents and do not plan to do any more preventative testing."
Kennedy also testified that assisted living facilities, which do not receive federal dollars, have yet to do any testing. She said the only way to protect residents and staff is to have regular testing.
