Emergency preparedness is a critical concern for nursing homes, and collaborations between these facilities and public health organizations are proving essential in bolstering their ability to handle crises. A recent report by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) highlighted the challenges many nursing homes face, revealing that 77% of nursing homes in high-risk areas experienced at least one challenge during an emergency event. This underscores the need for robust preparedness plans and effective implementation. “The goal is to educate and prepare nursing homes [to then] share that experience with other nursing homes and public health agencies in their regions,” says Alice Bonner, Chair of the Moving Forward Nursing Home Quality Coalition. “We are building a network that will increase emergency preparedness across the state.”
States like Virginia and Michigan are taking proactive steps to address this issue. Virginia’s Fairfax County Health Department has been hosting an annual Skilled Nursing Facility Symposium since 2018, fostering collaboration and sharing best practices among local healthcare professionals. These symposiums cover a range of topics, from infection prevention and control to hospital-SNF communication. “On a regional level, we partner with a healthcare coalition that provides a unified approach to healthcare preparedness,” explains Christopher Eddy, healthcare preparedness coordinator with the Fairfax County Health Department. “On the community level, our health department now has dedicated programs for supporting SNFs with expert advice and training related to emergency preparedness and disease prevention.”
Michigan’s Moving Forward Nursing Home Quality Coalition received a $500,000 grant from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund to train nursing home leadership on disaster preparedness. This training goes beyond infectious outbreaks, encompassing hurricanes, floods, blizzards, and even cyberattacks. The coalition utilizes simulations and exercises to help nursing homes prepare for various scenarios and strengthen their response capabilities. As Bonner, former director of the division of nursing homes for the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services, notes, these drills are also a proactive way for nursing homes to demonstrate compliance to surveyors. “You want to be able to say to a surveyor who comes into your nursing home, ‘Here are our emergency preparedness plans and the exercises we’ve done with our team,'” she says. “This is a way to demonstrate that we’re walking the walk here. We’re actually doing these exercises.”
While the COVID-19 pandemic provided valuable lessons, the need for vigilance remains. “There’s RSV, there’s norovirus and all different types of infections,” Bonner cautions. “It’s important that people don’t take their eyes off of them because they’re going to continue to be an issue.” The dynamic nature of potential threats requires ongoing adaptation and refinement of preparedness plans. Nursing homes must stay alert and prioritize emergency preparedness planning to ensure the safety and well-being of their residents and staff.