On Wednesday LeadingAge Washington, Washington Health Care Association, Adult Family Home Council, Washington State Hospital Association, and Washington Home Care Association were given the opportunity to present to a large group of Washington Legislators and committee staff on COVID-19 in LTC.  You can find the PPT from that presentation here. The presentation began with the shocking current numbers of LTC facilities with a suspected or positive case of COVID 19. We then presented on the current problems we continue to experience regarding the lack of PPE, testing and funding particularly in the community based care settings. We closed by recommending that, when the legislature returns late summer or early fall, they appoint one single state agency to lead the health care system’s response to the COVID resurgence.  We suggested the designated lead agency be the Department of Health, not DSHS.  We also suggested the legislature enact a law that automatically suspends LTC facility state licensing laws and regulations upon the Governor’s emergency declaration as it applies to an outbreak of a contagious disease. You can find the highlights below.

Data collection and reporting 

Since the outbreak began reporting, requirements have constantly been changing. We are now left with a multitude of reporting requirements that are redundant. This needs to be streamlined to reduce the burden on providers so they can focus on patient care. The state would also have more reliable and comprehensive data if single sourced to improve our understanding of resource needs, such as, PPE, testing and staffing.

PPE, Staff and Testing 

Community-based settings are the worst hit when it comes to accessing PPE; they did not have established vendor purchasing relationships and supply lines for PPE prior to the outbreak.

PPE is the first essential tool in fighting this outbreak in long term care. The lack of this resource in LTC has contributed to other problems in the healthcare system, including back-up of patients in hospitals.

Over the last few months, there have been many promises of PPE relief, but none have actually been seen on the ground.

It’s no surprise that there has been an increase in staffing challenges due to COVID-19. Staff are testing positive and must then self-quarantine until no longer contagious or they have left due to concerns about their own health or that of their families. We also saw staffing agencies begin to price gouge. This is an issue that should be addressed to prevent this from happening during declared emergencies, such as a pandemic.

There is also still a statewide shortage of testing. Even when testing is available, there is still a barrier to obtaining a doctor’s order to get the test, and this is especially true in HCBS. If there were a statewide order for all residents in long term care, it would help streamline this process.  We are exploring this possibility which may also require a legislative solution.

Funding

It was made very clear that out of the $200 million allocated in 2965 long term care has seen none of this funding. To date, HCBS has seen no state/federal enhanced match increases through the Provider Relief Fund either.

Questions?

Contact:

Alyssa Odegaard- Vice President, Public Policy 

c: 206.948.2279