Half NYC's Nursing Homes Cited For Infection Control Problems

NEW YORK CITY — At a time when authorities are struggling to slow the spread of coronavirus among vulnerable populations, including seniors, 52 percent of nursing homes in New York state have been cited in recent years for problems with infection control.

According to a data analysis by Kaiser Health News and distributed by The Associated Press, 9,700 of the nation’s more than 15,000 nursing homes — about 63 percent — were cited by the federal government at least once during the last two inspection cycles, which ran from February 2016 to February 2020.

Nearly 3,500 nursing homes, or 23 percent, were cited more than once.

In New York City, 58 of the 110 facilities monitored by Kaiser received at least one citation.

Even among those homes with the federal government’s top rating — five out of five stars — 40 percent have been cited at least once for infection problems. Such citations were issued to 80 percent of the worst-rated homes, with just a single star.

Check federal ratings for nursing homes in your area.

Infections are a persistent challenge for skilled nursing facilities. Kaiser noted that as many as 3.8 million occur in homes each year, killing nearly 388,000 residents.

The Kaiser analysis found that many infection citations concern basic sanitary practices now being stressed in the fight against coronavirus, including workers’ failure to wash hands as they move from patient to patient or to wear masks, gloves and gowns when dealing with contagious patients.

Some citations, however, involve matters less likely to factor into disease transmission — allowing patients to develop bedsores, for example, or to catch infections through urinary catheters.

Federal inspectors classify violations in one of four levels of severity.

Most of these fall into the category of “potential harm.” Less severe violations might create “potential for minimal harm,” but more severe might threaten “actual harm” and the most severe put patients in “immediate jeopardy” and require prompt correction.

All citations in New York City were for "potential harm."

Use this interactive map to see how often nursing homes in your area were cited for infection control problems.

Source: A Kaiser Health News analysis of the Nursing Home Compare database from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as of February 2020, which details the “deficiencies” or citations that each nursing home received during inspections over the last two inspection cycles, which stretch back to February 2016. They include planned inspections, which occur once every 9 to 15 months, and inspections prompted by complaints or facility-self reporting of problems. The Kaiser data was distributed by the Associated Press.

Reported by Jean Dubail/Patch.