One of the most difficult and frustrating parts of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the limitation or lack of visitation allowed in skilled nursing facilities. For individuals with loved ones in a nursing home or assisted living, COVID-19 has been an especially frustrating and scary time.
As the vaccination rates have increased and the number of new COVID cases have somewhat stabilized, there has been a push for the relaxation of visitation restrictions.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) recently issued a memorandum, which updated its policy on nursing home visitation during the pandemic. The memorandum essentially states that visitation is allowed for all nursing home residents. While there are still protocols in place to minimize the risk of exposure (encourage hand washing, physical distance, screening, masks, etc.) all visitation, including indoor visitation, is now allowed.
For more information you can read the revised memorandum at: https://www.cms.gov/files/document/qso-20-39-nh-revised.pdf or contact our office at (516) 228-6522.
