As the COVID-19 pandemic has hit the long-term care industry particularly hard, with nursing home residents accounting for nearly 40 percent of virus related deaths in the U.S., the AARP staff recently spoke with experts to identify strategies that could ease the burden on the industry and improve resident care. 

Webster at Rye (N.H.) nursing home included facility board members, who have no direct contact with residents, on its list of staff members eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, New Hampshire Public Radio reported Jan. 12. 

The U.S. needs to reform its elder care system so seniors have more options and nursing homes achieve higher levels of quality and safety, writes CMS Administrator Seema Verma.

Two lawsuits were filed last month against the Windermere Health and Rehabilitation Center in Augusta, Ga., according to a Jan. 7 report from The Augusta Chronicle. Both lawsuits involve a resident death after allegations of poor care. 

Florida is investigating accusations that a nursing home in the state offered COVID-19 vaccines to board members and wealthy donors, alongside its own nursing home residents and staff, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Jan. 7, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer pocket-vetoed a bill that would have allowed nursing home residents to opt for surveillance cameras in their rooms, Michigan Live reported Jan. 6. 

CVS and Walgreens said they're on course to meet their goal of completing the first round of COVID-19 vaccinations for the country's long-term care residents and staff by Jan. 25, CNBC reports. 

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said about 60 percent of nursing home staffers who were offered the COVID-19 vaccine have declined, the Ohio Capital Journal reported Jan. 5. 

UNC Health debuted an at-home care program that the Chapel Hill, N.C.-based health system hopes will lower hospitalizations, according to WRAL Tech Wire.

Woodstock (Ga.) Nursing and Rehabilitation Center has rescheduled its first round of vaccines due to a COVID-19 outbreak that's affected dozens of residents and staff, local news station WSB-TV reported Dec. 29. 

Gov. Ned Lamont said an additional $31.2 million will support ongoing COVID-19 response efforts at Connecticut nursing homes, according to a Dec. 30 news release.

  A nurse at Kirkland, Wash.-based Life Care Center — a nursing home known for the first U.S. COVID-19 cluster — received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine Dec. 28, reports The New York Times.

More than 3 million long-term care facility and nursing home residents could face delays receiving the COVID-19 vaccine as facilities struggle to obtain consent, The Washington Post reports. 

New rules will offer more protection for Illinois nursing home residents subjected to neglect, infection, unauthorized administration of psychotropic drugs and negative consequences of inadequate staffing.

As the U.S. kicks off a historical COVID-19 vaccination campaign, HHS secretary, Alex Azar, said every nursing home resident could be vaccinated by Christmas, reports CBS News.

New York's Department of Health recently approved a closing plan for the Saratoga Center for Rehab and Skilled Nursing Care, a 257-bed long-term care facility in Ballston Spa, N.Y., The Daily Gazette reports. 

The Health Resources and Services Administration will distribute $523 million to more than 9,000 nursing homes that cut COVID-19 cases and related deaths between September and October, according to a Dec. 7 news release from the Trump administration. 

Healthcare organizations are increasingly leveraging data analytics to better collaborate with post-acute networks to improve patient care and reduce total costs. 

Sykesville, Md.-based Nexion Health, has acquired nine existing healthcare and rehabilitation centers across Texas.

Pennsylvania lawmakers on Nov. 20 passed a pandemic liability shield for nursing homes and other healthcare providers, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.