密歇根新闻广播 疗养院专责小组向惠特默州长提出建议

 

Nursing home task force submits its recommendations to Gov. Whitmer

A task force charged with recommending how nursing homes should manage COVID-19 in the event of a second wave submitted its report to Governor Gretchen Whitmer this week.

The report is expansive, with 28 recommendations that address four key areas: resource availability, quality of life for residents, staffing, and resident placement.

Members of the task force – physicians, nurses, administrators¹, advocates, industry representatives, and lawmakers – had been meeting twice a week since early July.

“I will carefully review these recommendations and continue to work closely with the task force and our partners to strengthen policies to protect nursing home residents, staff, and their families,” Whitmer said in a statement.

In the resource availability section, the task force recommends that nursing homes get priority in the distribution of personal protective equipment, and proposes “a coordinated² laboratory system across the state that prioritizes nursing homes" that need COVID-19 testing.

The quality-of-life section “strongly encourage[s]” outdoor visits and says residents should be able to gather for socially distant, small group activities.

Renee Beniak, executive director of the Michigan County Medical Care Facilities Council, chaired the task force’s staffing work group. She called nursing assistants’ jobs, which involve the most interaction with residents, “one of the most difficult.”

“To take good care of the residents and do the best job possible, I think the staff have to be happy and fulfilled and not overwhelmed and burn out,” she said.

The report says staff should receive better training and adequate paid-leave time for the sake of their “emotional and physical health.”

The report also suggests an alternative to Whitmer’s regional hub policy, which selected nursing homes that could house recovering COVID-19 patients in separate isolation³ wings.

The first recommendation is to improve coordination⁴ between nursing homes and hospitals so that the facilities can make better use of available bed space for recovering COVID-19 patients. If no extra space is available, the task force recommends sending the patient to a “Care and Recovery Center,” which the report calls “an adaptation of the regional hub program.”

Recovery centers would replace the regional hubs. According to the report, they should be “geographically diverse,” “provide high quality care,” and “engage in rigorous and consistent infection control protocols⁵.”

"We're trying to, obviously, have a little more time to prepare," said Beniak. "If there's a second wave, I think (MDHHS will) be able to be a little bit more prescriptive and detailed⁶."

The regional hub policy has attracted a lot of criticism, especially from state Republicans, some of whom claim that it was largely responsible for the more than 2,000 COVID-19 deaths among Michigan’s nursing home residents.

But the initial findings of a separate report, released in combination with the task force's report, present no evidence for that claim.

According to the Center for Health and Research Transformation⁷ at the University of Michigan, which is assessing regional hubs’ performance, the policy was a “logical and appropriate” response to the first wave of cases.

“No significant evidence of transmission of COVID-19 between patients admitted from hospitals to nursing home residents in hub facilities” was found, according to the preliminary report.

CHRT’s executive director Marianne Udow-Phillips said the hub strategy should be continued, but improved, much like the task force recommends with its recovery-center model.

“We are recommending — as did the task force — that this essential strategy be continued,” said Udow-Phillips. “We’re recommending strengthening it, but certainly not abandoning it.”

The study also compared Michigan’s nursing home response to that of other states, and found a persistent⁸ need to improve coordination among various state agencies and health providers.

In interviews, the researchers learned that some nursing homes received conflicting guidance from MDHHS and their local health departments. Nationally, they found that nursing homes whose administrators kept strong relationships with individuals at local hospitals (like discharge planners) were more effective in controlling infection.

Though the study’s objective is to “develop recommendations for preparedness in the event of another COVID-19 surge,” Udow-Phillips says the findings should herald⁹ broader changes to long-term care.

“I hope that we learn from this more generally, not just for COVID-19, about how we can improve care for seniors, but also about how we can do this to support the staff and all of those who really care for our seniors,” she said.

Udow-Phillips says the final report might be available at the end of September.

Additional information was added to the original web post at 10:48 a.m. on September 2, 2020.

1 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

2 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

3 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

4 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

5 protocols   

n.礼仪( protocol的名词复数 )；（外交条约的）草案；（数据传递的）协议；科学实验报告（或计划）

参考例句：

• There are also protocols on the testing of nuclear weapons. 也有关于核武器试验的协议。 来自辞典例句
• Hardware components and software design of network transport protocols are separately introduced. 介绍系统硬件组成及网络传输协议的软件设计。 来自互联网

6 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

7 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

8 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

9 herald   

vt.预示...的来临，预告，宣布，欢迎

参考例句：

• In England, the cuckoo is the herald of spring.在英国杜鹃鸟是报春的使者。
• Dawn is the herald of day.曙光是白昼的先驱。