New York state resident Alexa Rivera recently lost her mother, Anna Martinez, to COVID-19 at a nursing home. Overwhelmed by sorrow, she blamed the nursing home’s inaction and unpreparedness for her mother’s sickness.
In 2020, citing an urgent need to expand hospital capacity, New York state issued a blanket rule that required nursing homes to admit new or returning residents regardless of their COVID-19 status. However, due to a shortage of medical staff and resources, many nursing homes failed to separate infected patients from elderly residents who remained highly vulnerable to the virus.
An NBC News investigation found that after a Long Island nursing home was required to take recovering COVID-19 patients under the state policy, an outbreak of the virus in the spring of 2020 killed at least 24 residents, only three of whom had been transferred from hospitals.
“Without any proper isolation, any proper PPE or adequate staffing, it was a disaster from the very beginning,” Rivera said. “It showed the systematic failure that has been happening for many years prior to COVID-19 and opened a Pandora’s box of what has been going on for many years.”
The tragic events highlighted the vulnerabilities within the elderly care system, exposing long-standing issues that were exacerbated by the pandemic. The lack of preparedness and resources in nursing homes not only led to preventable deaths but also brought to light the need for significant reforms in elderly care facilities.
As the world continues to navigate the challenges posed by COVID-19, the experiences of families like Rivera’s underscore the importance of safeguarding our most vulnerable populations and ensuring that healthcare institutions are equipped to handle crises effectively.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
