BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced new visitation rules at nursing homes effective Wednesday, January 12 to include proof of a negative Covid test within 24 hours of the visit, and all visitors must wear surgical-type masks, as opposed to cloth ones.
"Unfortunately, there hasn't been any guidance on the changes from the state yet, so we have been advised to keep visitation as it is, for now, so that we don't violate any CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) regulations," said Chris Koenig, President and CEO of The Greenfields, in Lancaster.
Koenig believes it's just a matter of time before the changes take effect.
It's not the only guidance that nursing homes are waiting for. Staff have to be vaccinated and now there are new regulations that say they have to be boosted within two weeks of becoming eligible, absent a valid medical exemption.
"From a staffing perspective, none of us are equipped to do these flip flops and changes. Now we have to have people checking for negative tests, which adds an extra burden for facilities."
With the omicron variant causing a large uptick in infections in the community, Koenig said they are not seeing it with residents. But they are seeing it with staff. Luckily, he said some of the guidance on returning to work has changed.
"At one of our facilities, 9 out of 10 staff that have tested positive, have not been boosted," added Koenig. A booster mandate is going to make things difficult for The Greenfields, as well as many other facilities.
"I understand the need for the booster, but our staff is exhausted. They've worked very hard throughout the pandemic and they get stressed at increased regulations. Just when we thought everything was all set, the vaccine mandate came out and we lost a lot of staff, everyone did, in an industry where there is already a staffing crunch. Every time there's something new, it just impedes us. Our ability to hire new staff or to retain current staff. When we're looking at a potential reduction in the workforce, it makes it very difficult to do business."
"I'd like to say that we're all in this together, but our staff is exhausted. There's no doubt about it," said Koenig.
