nursing homes

We see a purple sign with a yellow shot and white lettering that reads, "Hashtag Get Vaccinated," in front of the Laurels of Hendersonville, an assisted living facility building with colonial white arches.

Once used to fight outbreaks, ‘strike teams’ fill gaps in nursing home vaccinations

February 18, 2021 by Hannah Critchfield Leave a Comment

Once used to fight outbreaks, ‘strike teams’ fill gaps in nursing home vaccinations - North Carolina Health News

The disaster response teams are aiding long-term care homes that didn’t sign up for the CVS-Walgreens program.

By Hannah Critchfield Mark Shepherd got off the phone with the public health department and began reaching out to members of the Henderson County Rescue Squad. It was early January. The volunteers, all emergency medical professionals, were needed at The Laurels of Hendersonville, an assisted living facility about 20 miles outside Asheville. Shepherd, a physician […]

shows a young woman sitting next to an older woman, she's taking the older woman's blood pressure. Many such workers are needed in long-term care.

As the long-term care industry shifts, COVID-19 shortchanges NC’s frontline workers

February 17, 2021 by Thomas Goldsmith 2 Comments

As the long-term care industry shifts, COVID-19 shortchanges NC’s frontline workers - North Carolina Health News

Winds of change already shook NC long-term care industry at the beginning of 2020, but the threatening COVID-19 virus posed more questions in customary practices and workers’ compensation.

By Thomas Goldsmith The long-term care landscape in North Carolina was already in flux when the COVID-19 pandemic landed in 2020 — direct care workers faced 10 years of stagnant wages, nursing homes had waning numbers of residents, and the call for in-home aides had dramatically increased. Ongoing trends among residents, care workers and the […]

shows the back of a wheelchair, with an old and wizened hand on the arm of the chair

Project ECHO resounds throughout WNC

January 29, 2021 by Melba Newsome

Project ECHO resounds throughout WNC - North Carolina Health News

Long-term care facilities use a “guided practice” model to mitigate the coronavirus.

By Melba Newsome Each Monday at noon, Janice Somers closes her office door at Westwood Hills Nursing and Rehabilitation and puts her phone on Do Not Disturb. For the next 90 minutes, the nurse administrator and four team members join hundreds of employees from over a hundred North and South Carolina facilities for the Nursing […]

We see Mark Newton sitting with his arm around his older mother on a brown corduroy couch in their home in Reidsville. Both smile, with closed teeth, and look at the camera.

Family health workers feel left behind by NC’s vaccination rollout

January 14, 2021 by Hannah Critchfield

Family health workers feel left behind by NC’s vaccination rollout - North Carolina Health News

People who work at long term care facilities were some of the first in line for the COVID-19 vaccine. Unpaid caregivers - those who care for their elderly parents or other relatives at home - aren’t being given the same priority.

By Hannah Critchfield For Mark Newton, each visit to the grocery store tempts fate. He arrives during early or late hours when the business is mostly empty, but he can’t control the checkout line – or the flood of fear that rushes in every time he finds himself surrounded by other too-close patrons, their noses […]

shows two people, both wearing masks to stop transmission of COVID, the women in this photo is in the foreground and out of focus

Coronavirus Today – Dec. 30 Which COVID-19 vaccine phase are you in?; If you’re 75 and older, a shot might be available in January; Eviction moratorium extended

December 30, 2020 by Anne Blythe

Coronavirus Today – Dec. 30 Which COVID-19 vaccine phase are you in?; If you’re 75 and older, a shot might be available in January; Eviction moratorium extended - North Carolina Health News

North Carolina adds more details to the COVID-19 equitable vaccine distribution plan, cautions against violating prioritizations.

By Anne Blythe Now that the first doses of Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines have arrived in North Carolina and immunizations have started, the state distribution plan has been updated to better ensure that favoritism and financial means play no part in who gets the doses. Five days before Christmas, the Centers for Disease Control […]

A church that's empty because of prohibitions against gatherings because of COVID-19

Coronavirus Today – Dec. 22 – Pastors share virtual Christmas plans; Cocktails to go; Vaccines to nursing homes; More red and orange counties

December 22, 2020 by Anne Blythe

Coronavirus Today – Dec. 22 – Pastors share virtual Christmas plans; Cocktails to go; Vaccines to nursing homes; More red and orange counties - North Carolina Health News

COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths hit new records as North Carolina battles a Thanksgiving case surge with Christmas only days away.

By Anne Blythe With Christmas only three days away, more than 90 percent of North Carolina’s 100 counties have critical or substantial spread of COVID-19. Gov. Roy Cooper and his top public health official, Mandy Cohen, secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services, have spent much of the past two months trying […]

shows a bared arm and a pair of gloved hands giving an injection. Soon that will be a shot of someone getting a COVID vaccine.

Coronavirus Today – Dec. 1 NC COVID-19 vaccines to be free; Phased roll-out could begin in weeks; Record hospitalizations in NC

December 1, 2020 by Anne Blythe

Coronavirus Today – Dec. 1 NC COVID-19 vaccines to be free; Phased roll-out could begin in weeks; Record hospitalizations in NC - North Carolina Health News

Gov. Roy Cooper offers hope about vaccines while urging North Carolinians to stay strong in the fight against COVID.

By Anne Blythe and Thomas Goldsmith North Carolina could get its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines by late next week or soon after if the federal Food and Drug Administration grants Pfizer an emergency use authorization, the state’s top public health official said on Tuesday. Gov. Roy Cooper and Mandy Cohen, secretary of the state […]

COVID-free nursing homes fought hard to keep virus out

November 19, 2020 by Thomas Goldsmith

COVID-free nursing homes fought hard to keep virus out - North Carolina Health News

More than 200 North Carolina nursing homes have succeeded in totally excluding COVID-19 infections. What did they do right? This is the first of two stories exploring what skilled nursing facilities can do and have done to prevent COVID infections for the people in their care.

This story has been supported by the Solutions Journalism Network, a nonprofit organization dedicated to rigorous and compelling reporting about responses to social problems, http://solutionsjournalism.org. By Thomas Goldsmith Even as more than 1,800 of North Carolina’s nursing home residents have died from COVID since March, thousands more of these most vulnerable have escaped the horrific grip […]

Shows the brightly colored "windseeker" ride at Carowinds, where red seats suspended from a blue column swirl high in the air.

Coronavirus Today – Sep 30 Bars, movie theaters, amusement parks reopening; NC stable but warning signs of spikes; Swing state with COVID-19

September 30, 2020 by Anne Blythe

Coronavirus Today – Sep 30 Bars, movie theaters, amusement parks reopening; NC stable but warning signs of spikes; Swing state with COVID-19 - North Carolina Health News

Gov. Roy Cooper turned the ‘dimmer switch’ another notch to reopen bars, theaters, amusement parks at limited capacity.

By Anne Blythe North Carolinians will be able to return to bars with outdoor seating, movie theaters, outdoor amusement parks, sports stadiums and other entertainment venues after Friday, with some limitations, thanks to the coronavirus. Gov. Roy Cooper told reporters on Wednesday that North Carolina’s COVID-19 trends and metrics are stable enough to move into […]

shows an older woman standing outside, wearing a mask against COVID, her mask reads: Asthma

Coronavirus Today – Sep. 3 – ‘Get Behind the Mask’ and Labor Day; Vaccine by November?; Nursing homes and child care; ‘Dr. Mandy Cohen Day’

September 3, 2020 by Anne Blythe

Coronavirus Today – Sep. 3 – ‘Get Behind the Mask’ and Labor Day; Vaccine by November?; Nursing homes and child care; ‘Dr. Mandy Cohen Day’ - North Carolina Health News

North Carolina launches a public health face mask campaign six months into the coronavirus pandemic.

By Anne Blythe Public health officials want North Carolinians to keep up their guard against COVID-19 over the long Labor Day weekend so the unofficial end of summer won’t be ushered out the way the season was marshaled in. It was not long after Memorial Day and a coinciding easing of the statewide Stay at […]

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