Texas nursing homes are ravaged by coronavirus. Here’s how Congress should help

As the coronavirus outbreak rips into nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, Texans are losing loved ones at alarming rates, and others are rightfully worried about how family members and friends are being cared for.

Over the past few months, AARP has been collecting personal accounts from people across the country who have loved ones in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. We’ve heard from family members who have been kept in the dark about the care of their loved one. Others have been deeply concerned by the shortage of staffing and adequate personal protective equipment.

And tragically, some have lost loved ones without knowing why because they were never tested for COVID-19.

In these facilities, more than 55,000 Americans have died — afraid and alone, often without a single family member by their side.

Kenneth Drummonds, a retired school principal and coach, died alone on April 28 in a facility near his family’s home in Sherman. He was 92 and had been hospitalized six weeks earlier. His wife of 37 years, Susie, said she believes the isolation destroyed his will to live.

“I’m not sure he was ever able to understand why we weren’t there with him,” she said.

Congress should have seen this national disgrace coming. The first major outbreak of COVID-19 on U.S. soil was in a Washington state nursing home. It was clear weeks before states began locking down that long-term care facilities would be a hotbed for the virus.

No state is doing enough to protect residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. In Texas, more than 40 percent of all COVID-19 deaths are among residents and staff of these facilities.

Congress must swiftly ensure that all facilities regularly test staff and residents; have and correctly use personal protective equipment; publicly report COVID-19 cases and deaths daily; and facilitate virtual visits between residents and their families. Also, Congress must reject proposals to grant broad legal immunity to long-term care facilities.

Understanding and containing the spread of COVID-19 requires ongoing, regular testing of all long-term care residents and workers. Steps must be taken to ensure all facilities have a sufficient supply of masks, gowns, gloves, and face shields, to protect workers and residents.

And facilities must stiffen protocols for infection control. A recent Government Accountability Office report found that more than 80 percent of nursing homes were cited for infection prevention failures before the pandemic. If facilities ignored basic procedures such as handwashing before an outbreak, they stood no chance of keeping residents safe from the coronavirus.

Families and the public need the facts about their loved ones and the facilities where they live. We must see to it that nursing homes and other long-term care facilities publicly report the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths among residents and staff daily. Complete transparency will help public health officials direct resources and allow residents, prospective residents, and their families to make informed decisions.

Lastly, Congress must stop efforts to provide long-term care facilities with legal immunity related to COVID-19. Long-term care providers must remain responsible for any negligent actions that fail to protect the health — and lives — of residents and staff. Litigation is an option of last resort, but it may be necessary to hold some nursing homes accountable for abuse, neglect, and even death.

Our mothers, fathers, grandparents and spouses are dying in record numbers, often scared and alone. Congress must act urgently to support nursing home residents, staff and families to stem the loss of life.