PA Nursing Homes Urged To Allow In-Person Visits

HARRISBURG, PA — Pennsylvania health officials on Friday urged nursing homes in the state to update their coronavirus visitation policies to allow in-person visits.

Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam and other Wolf administration officials highlighted updated nursing home visitation guidance issued by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Under the guidance, residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 could choose to have close contact, including touch with their visitors while wearing a mask.

Visitors would still be required to physically distance from other residents and staff.

"We understand how difficult this past year has been on families and nursing home residents," Beam said. "This newly updated guidance is an important step as we continue to care for and protect the physical and mental health of our most vulnerable residents. All Pennsylvania nursing homes should implement this guidance immediately."

The new federal guidelines also allow for "responsible indoor visitation" for all residents regardless of their vaccination status, unless certain exceptions exist. Those would be:

• If the resident is not vaccinated and if the COVID-19 positivity rate is greater than 10 percent in the county, with less than 70 percent of the facility's residents vaccinated
• If the resident is confirmed to have COVID-19, until they have met the criteria to end precautions
• If the resident is being quarantined due to exposure to the virus

The new guidance also says "compassionate care" visits, such as end-of-life visits, should be allowed at all times, regardless of the resident's vaccination status or the county's positivity rate.
"The restrictions on visitations in long-term care facilities during the past year have been extremely difficult for residents, their families and friends. This human interaction and engagement is such a major and much-missed part of life, especially since these connections provide critical support for the physical, mental and emotional well-being of older adults,” said state Aging Secretary Robert Torres.

"The resumption of visitations, with the exercise of great care and caution, will finally provide much-needed relief and hope for long-term care residents and their loved ones."

Officials said that the high vaccination rate among nursing home residents and employees have helped make the loosening of restrictions possible. During the early months of the pandemic, nursing homes in Pennsylvania and elsewhere were among the communities hardest hit by the virus.

Officials said Pennsylvania's Department of Hunan Services is working with the Department of Health to update guidance for state-licensed facilities like assisted-living homes and intermediate-care facilities and that those facilities should immediately adopt the federal guidelines when appropriate.

As of Friday, nearly 3.4 million vaccinations had been delivered in Pennsylvania, with nearly 2.3 million people having received a single dose of a two-dose vaccine and more than 1.1 million people fully vaccinated.

Nursing home residents and workers were among the first people in Pennsylvania vaccinated under Phase 1A of the state's coronavirus vaccination plan.

A fact sheet on the newly updated guidance can be found on CMS’s website.