Nursing Homes

In Florida, only half of fully vaccinated nursing home residents have gotten the booster for COVID. When you add unvaccinated residents into the mix, just 41% are boosted.

In a sign of how desperate some states are for health care workers during the pandemic, New York has begun teaching EMT skills to National Guard members.

We want to hear how pandemic visitation restrictions affected your family.

The AARP’s state director Jeff Johnson spoke to WMFE’s Joe Byrnes about nursing homes and long term care facilities, and other issues that could affect seniors this session.

A bill being considered by legislators would cut the required time that a nurse or certified nursing assistant spends with a patient in a long-term care facility from 3.6 hours to one hour. It would also permit nonmedical staff to replace CNAs for 2.5 hours every day.

The tests heading to long-term care facilities were stockpiled during a “downturn” and expired at the end of the year. The state has been waiting for an answer from the federal government on whether they are usable.

The federal judge issued an injunction against the federal requirement. Meanwhile, a Pensacola-based judge issued an order that clears Florida's challenge to be onsidered by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The demand for home health care has increased even while the supply of workers has been squeezed thanks to how most of the care is paid for.

Health News Florida is reporting on staffing shortages in nursing homes and assisted living facilities and we'd like to hear from you.

Guidelines released last week by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services allow all visitors, excluding those that have recently tested positive for the coronavirus.

The state plan conflicts with a rule issued this month by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that requires health care workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

COVID-19 has highlighted how older Americans are cared for, the special vulnerabilities they face, and the challenges families have to confront when making caregiving decisions.