Opinion | Nursing homes need fixing. Here’s where to start.
March 11, 2021
When the Covid-19 pandemic came to America, nursing homes became “ground zero” for the pandemic. Although less than half of 1 percent of the U.S. population resides in nursing homes, they account for nearly 40 percent of all Covid deaths. Nursing homes are supposed to help residents remain safe and healthy, but the opposite turned out to be the case: When it came to the coronavirus, residents in nursing homes were more vulnerable, not less.
There are many ideas floating around for how to fix nursing homes to make them safer for both long-term residents and short-stay patients going forward. Those suggestions include making facilities smaller, with more private rooms and bathrooms, to keep contagions more contained. Other ideas include partnering with hospitals and improving infection control.
