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Plan for Determining Phases to Allow Visitors in Skilled Nursing Facilities
The Division of Public and Behavioral Health (DPBH) is working with state-licensed skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) to assess readiness to begin receiving visitors as part of the state’s Phase 2 reopening during the COVID-19 emergency response.
The steps below outline the process that DPBH’s Bureau of Health Care Quality and Compliance (HCQC) and Office of Public Health Investigations and Epidemiology (OPHIE) will use to assess each individual facility’s readiness.
- A questionnaire will be sent to facilities to gather data, diagrams and the facility plans.
- Supervisors will gather additional data regarding community prevalence for Washoe and Clark counties via the links below. Prevalence for the rural counties will be determined based on data in rural case counts prepared by HCQC’s syndromic surveillance coordinator.
- Data, diagrams and plans will be reviewed by HCQC supervisors who will then communicate with the facilities to document the following:
- How the facility will ensure Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance on the use of face coverings and social distancing will occur once the facility begins to allow visitation, communal dining and activities to resume.
- How the facility will ensure enhanced cleaning is being done for high-touch areas, to include dining, activities, and rehab areas.
- How the facility will handle new admissions, quarantine and observation.
- How the facility will mitigate the spread of COVID if the facility experiences an outbreak.
- How the facility will conduct testing of residents if an outbreak occurs.
- Whether the facility has access to sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE).
- How the facility will ensure residents are cohorted appropriately.
- Whether the facility will have adequate staff to ensure separate staffing of cohort units.
- How often the facility will test employees and how will it be accomplished.
- How the facility is screening staff.
- How the facility will screen visitors.
- Discussion and review of the data/plan will be accomplished by HCQC team (inspectors/supervisor/manager/infection preventionist) and OPHIE (Health Care-Associated Infection lead) to evaluate plans and assign a current phase for allowing visitors (phase 1, 2 or 3, based on CMS QSO 20-30).
- The facility supervisor will communicate the current phase to the facility.
- Any new COVID case in a facility will require re-evaluation of the facility’s phase.
- The HCQC/OPHIE teams will meet regularly to evaluate plans and assign current phases.
Click here for a downloadable PDF of the above information.