ON MOTHER’S DAY, PLEDGE TO DO MORE TO PROTECT STATE’S ELDERLY
Many New Jerseyans in today’s COVID-19 world will have to observe Mother’s Day Sunday without their mother – and not just because of social distancing requirements. Coronavirus has taken a heavy toll on elderly moms (and dads).
The state’s nursing homes and long-term care facilities for the elderly have accounted for more than half of New Jersey’s 9,116 coronavirus fatalities. Additionally, through Saturday, 26,031 COVID-19 cases have been reported at 515 long-term care facilities across the state, making it impossible for many thousands of Jerseyans to give thanks to their mothers in person.
The victims were caught up in a perfect storm of a deadly, easily transmittable virus and long-term care facilities with inadequate staffing, resources and personal protection equipment. Many facilities have had long histories of poor compliance with regulations aimed at controlling the spread of viruses and other deadly infectious diseases.
A new investigation led by the Asbury Park Press found that 80 percent of New Jersey nursing homes were warned over the years that they were non-compliant with mandatory infection-control regulations. At least 34 of the facilities with COVID-19 outbreaks were cited three or more times over a three-year review period for not following federal health standards.
Despite recognition early on that the elderly were at far greater risk than the general population of contracting and dying from COVID-19, most of the scarce personal protection equipment was directed toward hospitals and first responders.
In addition to the more than 4,800 deaths in New Jersey’s 425 nursing homes and other long-term care facilities for the elderly, more than 135,454 cases of coronavirus have been reported. It is safe to say that both the number of deaths and COVID-19 cases have been underreported.
But even the numbers provided to the state Department of Health are staggering. In Bergen County, 15 long-term care facilities have had 20 or more deaths and 15 have had 100 or more reported COVID-19 cases.
In Monmouth County, 10 facilities have reported 10 or more deaths and 15 have had 50 or more cases. CareOne in Wall alone has had 111 coronavirus cases.
In Ocean County, 14 facilities have had 10 or more deaths. In Jackson, Bartley Healthcare Nursing and Rehabilitation has had 26 deaths and 153 COVID-19 infections.
An outbreak at a nursing home in Andover, Sussex County, that has killed at least 70 people and sickened dozens of other residents and staff has spurred an investigation by state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal into the handling of the pandemic at several nursing homes.
New Jersey not only ranks second in the nation in the number of coronavirus deaths, but is first in the number of reported cases in long-term care facilities – 52 percent more than runner-up Massachusetts, according to an analysis by The New York Times.
While New York State still leads the nation in COVID-19 deaths, New Jersey is catching up. And the number of New Jersey’s coronavirus deaths in long-term care facilities as a percentage of the total number of COVID-19 deaths is more than double that of New York.
Shockingly, percentages are far higher than New Jersey’s in several states, including West Virginia (81%), Rhode Island (69%), Pennsylvania (66%) and Delaware (64%), according to the Times.
In a belated response to the COVID-19 outbreak at nursing homes, Gov. Murphy this week ordered 120 members of the New Jersey National Guard to be dispatched to some of those hardest hit. They will be asked to provide janitorial services, cooking and help with logistics, Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said.
Calling in the troops isn’t nearly enough to keep the desperate situation at many of the facilities from turning into even more of a nightmare.
The state’s elderly deserve better. The facilities that house the most vulnerable need more personal protection equipment, more staffing and more testing. On Mothers Day, Murphy and members of his administration should pledge to redouble their efforts to protect those who have spent their lives protecting us.
Randy Bergmann is the former Editorial Page Editor of the Asbury Park Press
Very happy I had my mom move to a assisted living facility down here in GA. There are many places down that I would not consider acceptable. I was happy to find a place she could afford. Have her own room. The facility went into lockdown in late Feb. and to date no China – 19 cases. She would rather be on Long Island, but may not be with us now, if she was living there.