Ease Restrictions For Nursing Homes

In an opinion piece published on June 8, 2021, the authors, Elizabeth Weingast and Karen Lipson, highlight the disparities faced by nursing home residents in New York despite high vaccination rates in the state. While federal guidelines from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) had relaxed social restrictions for vaccinated nursing home residents, New York's regulations were stricter. Vaccinated residents were still required to maintain a six-foot distance and wear masks, even when interacting with other vaccinated individuals.

The impact of COVID-19 regulatory Liz Weingast and Karen Lipson, supported by the ESBC Long-Term Care Workgroup, argue in the Albany Times Union that the current restrictions on NYS nursing home residents are not consistent with federal recommendations and lack sufficient ethical justification.

The authors called for New York state to align its requirements with federal guidelines and urged regulators at both the federal and state levels to pursue more equitable policies for vaccinated nursing home residents. They advocated for allowing vaccinated residents to interact without masks and participate in activities and not depriving them of visitors when isolated cases of COVID-19 occurred in their buildings. Their overarching message was to give nursing home residents, who often have limited time left in facilities, the opportunity to live full and meaningful lives like their counterparts in the community.

Elizabeth Weingast is vice president for clinical excellence at The New Jewish Home. Karen Lipson is executive vice president for innovation strategies at Leading Age New York. They wrote this in collaboration with the Long-Term Care Workgroup of the Empire State Bioethics Consortium.

“Nursing home residents have a median survival time in facilities of 2.2 years. Every day is precious. Let’s give them the same opportunity to live full and meaningful lives as their peers in the community.”