Focus on helping nursing homes

What we know about what’s happening inside the region’s nursing homes is wrenching.

What we don’t know is equally appalling.

So a New York state investigation, along with new reporting requirements and inspections, as announced by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo Thursday, was welcome, albeit late-arriving, news.

It should have been clear early on that nursing homes and other senior-care facilities would be the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic. We’ve known for weeks these homes were having difficulties keeping up with the onslaught, in part due to insufficient personal protective equipment for staff, and the requirement to admit new COVID-19 patients after a hospital stay.

The state, which is responsible for regulating and overseeing New York’s 613 nursing homes, needed to do a better job in requiring that the facilities have a more comprehensive response.

Meanwhile, New York’s publicly available statistics remain wildly incomplete. More than 3,500 people have died statewide from the coronavirus in nursing homes and adult group homes. But so far, the state is making public only the names of nursing homes and other facilities with five or more deaths in the homes. State officials should add the number who have died in hospitals, the number of cases per facility, breakdowns of confirmed versus presumed coronavirus diagnoses, and the number of residents in each home.

Without enough access to testing, we’re still missing the full picture. At times, even cases that staff assumed were related to COVID-19 were not deemed as such on death certificates, and therefore aren’t being counted. Part of the state’s investigation must look into any undercounting, and the lack of testing.

The requirement to accept new coronavirus patients — not just those who were residents before being diagnosed — likely has made the virus even more difficult to contain. The state should consider refining that policy, and better defining which homes are capable of accepting and separating COVID-19 patients.

Staffing, too, is key. The state could require nursing homes to make public data on the number of cases or deaths among staff members, along with day-to-day staffing levels. Knowing whether nursing homes are adequately staffed could help determine whether residents are getting adequate care.

Cuomo is right that responsibility also lies with nursing home owners, many of which are for-profit firms, or are at least in part funded by Medicare and Medicaid. But in an emergency, the state must ensure resources go where they’re needed, that facility owners and managers are held accountable, and that oversight, even when doors are closed, is strong.

Advocates for nursing home residents and their families were concerned about infection protocol, equipment and staffing, and other issues before the pandemic. This tragedy should push state and federal officials to shine a broader spotlight on nursing home care in the future.

But for now, the state must focus on making sure our vulnerable residents are getting the care they need, and doing everything possible to stem the crisis happening inside their homes.

— The editorial board