This month we will have a roundtable discussion on COVID and Assisted Living. We are working with CALA to help the community unite together on how we deal with this illness, and the regulatory agencies involved.

Colorado needs Covid Recovery Centers for Assisted Living

The Colorado Assisted Living Association (CALA) is gravely concerned with the uptick in the Covid 19 pandemic and feel compelled to bring to light a major issue that needs immediate resolution.

CALA represents the assisted living industry in Colorado, an industry with 650 facilities and over 12,000 beds. We have been in contact with CDPHE for support in placement options and management of persons affected with COVID 19 since April 25, 2020 (phone calls, ZOOM, Strike Force calls, etc). To date, we still have no solution! Additionally, the ALR industry has no representation on the Strike Force Team (we have asked several times).

Care Recovery type facilities are needed to care for seniors with Covid-19, where seniors can be actively assessed and monitored by licensed health care professionals to mitigate spread of illness, manage acute symptoms, and improve outcomes to reduce undue mortality of this vulnerable population.

Assisted Living Facilities are prohibited by regulations ( 6 CCR 1011-1 Chapters 7 and 24) to manage an acutely ill resident. Additionally, in the ALF environment:
• Staff are typically non-licensed and do not possess the training required to monitor and assess for rapidly changing resident status. (these residents require RN assessments and medical management at a minimum; ALR staff prohibited from making “assessments or judgements”)
• Smaller assisted living “homes” are not able to successfully quarantine or isolate to mitigate disease spread (shared rooms and bathrooms, limited space of less than 2000 sq ft. etc)
• Cohorting of those with positive COVID-19 is not an option with limited space.
Skilled Nursing Facilities are unable to provide the much-needed care for a myriad of reasons:
• Lack of rapid admission into a skilled nursing facility unless the patient had been discharged from a hospital. Direct admission from the community can take 3 days or more.
• Regulations from CDPHE prohibit new admissions to a skilled nursing facility, once the skilled nursing facility has an outbreak of Covid 19. An outbreak is considered 2 or more people that have tested positive for Covid 19 that are currently residing at the skilled nursing facility.
• CDPHE surveys often punitive for facilities with COVID outbreaks hence they are reluctant to undergo this level of scrutiny to admit COVID positive residents from community or hospital.
• Insurance - related delays and denials.
COVID overflow sites ( like the Denver Convention Center) are MASH type units and CDPHE admits these are not approved sites for the senior population.
Our elderly population have proven that COVID 19 affects them severely and has resulted in nearly 2000 deaths (or >80% of Colorado’s 2546 deaths). They are experiencing the detrimental effects of isolation from their families and each other. Our seniors should not have to experience increased COVID -related risks, illness or mortality because Colorado is not prepared with appropriate options to manage the treatment and quarantine for our elderly who reside in care facilities, especially smaller homes.
WE NEED IMMEDIATE ACTION FROM ALL DECISION MAKERS (and those who affect decisions) IN COLORADO SO THAT WE CAN MOVE FORWARD. WE NEED A BETTER PLAN AND WE NEED IT NOW!