LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Today at Governor Asa Hutchinson’s daily briefing there was an emphasis on long-term care facilities in Arkansas.
Nursing homes in the state have been hit with stress and anxiety and PPE shortages similar to other healthcare industries in Arkansas. Executive Director for the Arkansas Healthcare Association Rachael Bunch says the pandemic coming right off an active flu season put nursing homes further behind other health fields, “It’s a day by day thing and facilities don’t have enough for every home if everyone were to be affected. A lot of the PPE that we were using was already low so we’ve been working to try to get more and it’s a work in progress.”
Governor Hutchinson pointed out that nursing home numbers have been declining since peaking at 120 last week and he hopes that trend continues.
He showed that over $21 million in bonus payments will be paid out to those workers in the month of March, Bunch saying, “The work that they do it so often overlooked your recognition and innovative program means so very much to them.”
Fortunately for the nursing home industry, they have not been understaffed to the point where asymptomatic workers who have tested positive have been needed to stay as they have in the prison system. “Many of our staff members have volunteered for extra shifts during this time, covering for coworkers who may have contracted the virus or their family members that have contracted the virus,” said Bunch.
The Governor announcing that in the month of June the state has set a goal to test every resident and staff member of nursing homes in the state. It is estimated about 40,000-50,000 tests will be needed to complete that goal.
