WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL), representing more than 14,000 nursing homes and assisted living communities across the country that provide care to approximately five million people each year, released a statement in reaction to an investigation of select for-profit nursing home chains from March through June 2020 by the U.S. House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis. The documents come ahead of a hearing the subcommittee will hold later today, “Examining Long-Term Care In America: The Impact Of The Coronavirus In Nursing Homes.”
The statement is attributable to Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of AHCA/NCAL:
“This report focuses on the early stages of the pandemic when every long term care provider in the country was pleading for public health agencies and policymakers to send aid to the frontlines and prioritize our nation’s most vulnerable population. It’s unfortunate that we need to remind lawmakers what those early days were like. No matter the business structure, nearly every nursing home in the country struggled with acquiring personal protective equipment due to supply chain disruptions, testing due to limited supply, and additional staff support due to most government support being directed toward hospitals.
“Once long term care received the aid we had been pleading for and public health agencies prioritized our nation’s most vulnerable for life-saving vaccines, we saw tremendous progress in reducing cases and deaths. However, serious challenges remain, including a historic labor crisis. If we want to learn from this pandemic, we need to focus on these larger issues that are faced by all nursing homes and would make a significant difference in the lives of our residents.”