NJ Dept. of Health Now Releasing Mandatory Directive for Long-Term Care Facilities

By George N. Saliba, Managing Editor On Aug 10, 2020

The New Jersey Department of Health will today release a directive establishing mandatory reopening benchmarks for the state’s long-term care facilities as they seek to allow visitors and resume more normal operations, Gov. Phil Murphy said at today’s COVID-19 press conference.

The directive will include requirements for stockpiling personal protective equipment as well as testing requirements for residents and “weekly coronavirus tests for all staff,” Murphy said.

Some $25 million in Centers for Disease Control (CDC) epidemiology and laboratory capacity funding will help facilitate the new staff testing program.

Meanwhile, New Jersey Department of Human Services Commissioner Carole Johnson is working with “legislative partners” regarding a $130 million plan which would foster facilities’ critical infection control and support nursing facilities’ workforces, Murphy said, adding that the plan would include “tens of millions of dollars in federal matching funds.”

Murphy commented, “With this funding, we would be able to increase wages specifically for certified nursing aides, while also ensuring that our facilities can continue to fully support their current staffs and meet the more stringent criteria for reopening that are being put in place.”

He added that 60% of these funds must flow directly to nursing home workforces, “and the remainder will only go to facilities when they attest that they have met critical benchmark requirements outlined in the directive. The Department of Human Services will be prepared to recoup funds from facilities that do not comply with these requirements.”

Murphy said of today’s directive, overall: “Here is our goal: To not only meet the current challenges, but to ensure both high-quality care and the safety of residents and staff going forward.”

Today’s announcement comes amid cumulative totals of nearly 13,000 positive COVID-19 cases among long-term care facility staff and nearly 25,000 cases among residents at facilities statewide, resulting in nearly 7,000 fatalities.

The state engaged the outside firm Manatt Health for “short, medium, and long-range recommendations,” and this has already resulted in millions of pieces of personal protective equipment being distributed to facilities, 310,000 COVID-19 tests for residents, 495,000 for staff, and 470 infection control surveys being completed, for example.

Additionally, Dr. David Adinaro was hired as Deputy Commissioner of Public Health, and – among other responsibilities – he oversees a new long-term care facility emergency operations center.

Public Health Update

Meanwhile, Murphy decried long lines of mask-less people outside of bars this weekend that could spread coronavirus, as well as a large house party in Howell Township that required eight law enforcement agencies to disperse it.

Regarding bars, Murphy said, “I and Pat [Callahan, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police] and others here are going to give everyone a chance to do the right thing, but if we have to shut places down to protect public health, then we will. Consider this your warning before you go out drinking this weekend.”

New Jersey’s statewide coronavirus rate of transmission stands at .98, Murphy said today, and there are 258 new COVID-19 positive test results with 545 hospitalizations. Cumulative fatalities sit at 14,025, with another 1,853 “probable deaths.”

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