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Covid-19 still a threat in nursing homes

Tribune-Review - 6/19/2021

Jun. 18—Covid-19 is still a threat in Pennsylvania nursing homes even as vaccination rates climb and the number of new infections decline, acting Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Alison Beam said this week.

Although state officials designated nursing home residents and health care workers a top priority for vaccination when the first vaccines were released late last year, Beam said it is too soon to say the virus has been banished from the facilities where it cut a vast swath of infection, claiming more than 13,300 lives.

"As covid-19 remains a threat in our communities, we continue to work with nursing home staff and residents to ensure they have access to one of the three safe and effective vaccines that provide protection against this virus," Beam said. "It is essential that everyone remain vigilant regarding the potential spread of covid-19 in nursing homes. We continue to stay vigilant to best protect residents."

The Health Department's May report, released this week, listed 456 inspections, including 239 complaint investigations and 76 investigations specifically related to covid-19 concerns, in the state's 700 nursing homes.

During that same period, it reported four fines totaling $142,850 had been collected.

But digging down to specifics in publicly available data is another matter altogether.

While the Department of Health has reported covid-19 infections and deaths in nursing homes, covid-19 complaints that triggered inspections aren't as easy to access. They likely were covered in inspections that looked at issues such as infection control and prevention. When inspectors document violations in such areas, they typically require corrective actions within a set time frame.

And those new fines that are listed as final decisions in the May report won't be reported in the department's ongoing database of nursing home fines for at least another month.

The department, which oversees about 700 licensed nursing homes that house more than 80,000 of the state's most vulnerable citizens, posts inspection reports 41 days in arrears. Any fines subsequent to those inspections often aren't finalized for a year or more and even then are not posted for another 60 days.

The state agency reported 12 fines to date in 2021.

The most recent fine listed in the data dates to April, when the William Penn Care Center, a 155-bed nursing home in Penn Township in Westmoreland County, is listed as having paid a $12,000 fine for violations dating to a Jan. 8, 2020, inspection in which two patients were found to have suffered injuries.

Inspectors cited the facility for incidents on Dec. 31, 2019, and Jan. 1, 2020, when staff failed to follow doctors' recommendations on transferring patients to wheelchairs. Inspectors reported one patient suffered a broken ankle when being transferred to a wheelchair. The following day, a second patient was found with a broken toe after complaining of pain following a transfer.

Officials at the William Penn Care Center did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A spokeswoman for William Penn Care Center said she referred questions about the fines to the general counsel for the facility.

Nursing Home Compare, a federal government website that provides nursing home ratings, gave the William Penn Care Center a one star rating, ranking it much below average.

Deb Erdley is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Deb at 724-850-1209, derdley@triblive.com or via Twitter .

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