CARIE advocated for critical COVID-19 related policy change in Pennsylvania’s Long Term Care (LTC) facilities and organized “PA Advocates for Improved COVID-19 Response in LTC Facilities” to coordinate advocacy efforts among leading advocacy groups in Pennsylvania in response to the crisis. Please read our call to action, Immediate Actions Pennsylvania Must Take to Address the COVID-19 Crisis in Long-Term Care Facilities, that includes over three dozen recommendations. An Executive Summary, Recommendations Chart and a Combined Position Paper are also available for review.
Addressing Racial Disparities in Long Term Care Facilities Advocacy
- Letter to state officials with data collection and analysis recommendations (Sent 3/5/21)
- Letter to state officials with vaccine recommendations (Sent 3/8/21)
- Joint testimony for the House Aging & Older Adult Services Committee hearing on vaccines in long term care facilities (3/10/21)
- A Report on Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Pennsylvania’s Nursing Homes with Recommendations for Immediate Action (8/2021)
Pennsylvania (PA) Nursing Facility Regulations Advocacy
Updates to PA’s nursing home regulations are needed now more than ever. These regulations have not been updated since the 1990s. The PA Department of Health (DOH) is responsible for inspecting nursing homes and ensuring facilities meet both federal and state standards. COVID-19 has shone a bright light on the problems that currently exist in the outdated regulations. Some provisions do not meet current best practices, while others do not comply with current minimum federal nursing facility regulations.
Since DOH is apparently working to update these regulations, CARIE, Community Legal Services, David Hoffman & Associates, Disability Rights Network, PA Health Law Project, and the SeniorLAW Center wrote to Secretary Levine and other state officials with recommendations to improve the regulations. We plan to advocate for these needed changes as the regulations are revised.
Recommendations to Improve Pennsylvania’s Nursing Facility Regulations:
- Cover letter that summarizes our recommendations (Sent 11/23/2020)
- Recommendations in a track-changes, marked up version of the existing regulations
- Combined cover letter/summary and recommendations
- AARP PA’s Letter of Support
- Delaware Valley and Greater Pennsylvania Chapters of the Alzheimer’s Association’s Letter of Support
Other advocacy includes:
- Issue brief – Urgent Call to Action – Recommendations to Mitigate Crisis of Prolonged Isolation in LTC Facilities
- Letter sent to Governor Wolf and others requesting a rapid Targeted Response to COVID-19 in Long Term Care Facilities
- Letter requesting a Moratorium on Involuntary Nursing Home Discharges sent to officials at the Department of Health and others
