Advocates Push to Safely Allow Nursing and Assisted Living Community Visitation to Resume in N.Y.

Advocates are lobbying for New York State to reinstate visitations for nursing and assisted-living community residents, reports WETM-TV . "If . . . New York is opening up hospitals, and they figured out how to do that safely and they figured out how to open up group homes safely, certainly the Cuomo Administration and the Department of Health can figure out how to do that for nursing homes," said AARP New York State Legislative Representative Bill Ferris. Meanwhile, Empire State Association of Assisted Living Executive Director Lisa Newcomb is pushing for outdoor visits at assisted-living and adult-care communities. "Our members are committed to strict compliance with the rules because, in addition to their concern for their residents' physical health, they care very much about their residents' mental and emotional well-being," she explained. Ferris added that more has to be done to prepare for a potential second wave of coronavirus infections, which includes "making sure nursing homes have the proper personal protective equipment, making sure their visitations are in line virtual, or otherwise. But, there also needs to be a concerted effort by the Cuomo Administration to really look at the whole long-term care system and how it will respond to a future pandemic."