News

COVID-19 VACCINATIONS ROLL OUT TO 120,000 IN MISSOURI NURSING HOMES. ‘I’M HOPING THAT IT MEANS CHANGE IS COMING’

St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Annika Merrilees

LAKE SAINT LOUIS — The nation’s largest pharmacies on Monday gave the first of more than 120,000 vaccinations to Missouri’s long-term care facility residents and staff, beginning the inoculation process for some of the state’s most vulnerable.

CVS and Walgreens, through a contract with the federal government, began administering the vaccine manufactured by biotech company Moderna to among the first of roughly 56,000 long-term care residents and 70,000 staff in Missouri. The vaccinations should eventually allow family members to visit residents and end the isolation they have endured for months.

RESIDENTS, STAFF AT LAKE SAINT LOUIS NURSING HOME RECEIVE COVID-19 VACCINES

KMOV 4

100-YEAR-OLD VETERAN AMONG MISSOURI’S FIRST NURSING HOME RESIDENTS TO GET COVID-19 VACCINE

KSDK- 5 On Your Side

RESIDENTS OF THE COTTAGES OF LAKE SAINT LOUIS TO RECEIVE COVID VACCINE TODAY

FOX 2 News
Blair Ledet

FIRST DOSES OF MODERNA VACCINE COMING TO ST. CHARLES COUNTY LONG-TERM CARE FACILITY ON MONDAY

FOX 2 News
Andy Baker

“HE BROUGHT KISSES AND HUGS” | CORONAVIRUS VACCINE HELPS MOM, SON HUG FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A YEAR

KSDK- 5 On Your Side

“A WAKE-UP CALL’: NURSING HOMES EYE NEW NORMAL AFTER STEEP DECLINE IN COVID-19 CASES

St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Nassim Benchaabane

LAKE SAINT LOUIS — The barrier separating Kathy Miller from her mother was transparent enough that it was practically unnoticeable.

It was the first time in nearly a year that Miller was able to enter the Cottages of Lake Saint Louis nursing home to see her mother, Clestean Stroud, 91. Under the plexiglass shield, Miller and her son Jeremy touched their shoes to Stroud’s leopard print slippers.

“You knew the barrier is there but you really feel like you’re there with her,” said Miller, of Dardenne Prairie, after the visit. It just brings hope.

“We need a lot of hope right now.”

The Cottages were among nursing homes in the St. Louis area slowly resuming limited indoor visits last week, nearly a year after the COVID-19 pandemic forced group homes for the elderly to shutter doors in mid-March.

BREAKING: CDC EASES RESTRICTIONS FOR FULLY VACCINATED INDIVIDUALS IN NON-HEALTHCARE SETTINGS’

McKnight’s Long-Term Care News
James M. Berkin

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued long-awaited guidance on what new activities COVID-19 vaccinated people in “non-healthcare settings” can and can’t do regarding masking and social distancing. Further guidance for nursing homes is expected imminently.

While the guidance does not directly address long-term care or other elder care settings, it does state, for example, that grandparents who are fully vaccinated may begin intermixing more with family members who might not be vaccinated but are not at risk for severe reactions to COVID-19.

GREEN HOUSES BRING BLUE SKIES AS SMALLER NURSING HOMES SHOW FEWER COVID DEATHS, CASES

McKnight’s Long-Term Care News
Danielle Brown

Residents living in smaller nursing homes are less likely to contract or die from COVID-19 than those who live in larger facilities, according to study results published in JAMDA on Monday.

The analysis found that non-traditional nursing homes and facilities with fewer than 50 beds had lower rates of coronavirus cases and deaths when compared to facilities with more than 50 beds. Smaller facilities reported a median rate of 0 cases per 1,000 residents, while larger nursing homes reported a rate of 0.06 cases per 1,000 residents.

Additionally, Green House modeled facilities had a median mortality rate of 0 deaths per 100 positive residents, and facilities with less than 50 residents had a median mortality rate of 10. In nursing homes with more than 50 beds, the median mortality rate was 12.5 in nursing homes with more than 50 beds.

LTSS CHOICES: SMALL-HOUSE NURSING HOMES

AARP
Susan C. Reinhard and Edem Hado

Well before the coronavirus pandemic, long-standing problems in traditional nursing homes, such as infection control violations, low staffing ratios, and safety concerns, led many individuals and their families to explore alternatives. This report, part of AARP Public Policy Institute’s series on transforming long-term services and supports called LTSS Choices, is about one alternative, the Green House model.

Cottages of Lake Saint Louis Facebook Feed