Long-term care facilities had relaxed visitation as the summer opened and COVID cases fell. Some families say the rules are tightening again; a few said they never changed in the first place.
A grueling year of coronavirus, isolation in Michigan nursing homes sentinel-standard.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sentinel-standard.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Two designated national pharmacy chains, CVS and Walgreens, say they have vaccinated over 34,000 residents and staff in about 400 Michigan nursing homes. That suggests that a majority of the 45,000 residents in skilled nursing settings have gotten at least one of the two-dose vaccine regimen in a process that still appears bumpy.
For older residents not in care facilities, the pace of vaccination appears to be much slower. That data show that 89,760 people age 70 or older have gotten at least the first dose of the vaccine nearly 8 percent of the 1.2 million Michigan residents 70 and older, through Tuesday. That may not seem like much, but the rate is far higher than in many neighboring states.
A resident s rights depend on what type of facility they re in.
At first, Dakima Jackson wanted to be a dentist. But, to support herself while studying, she got a job at an adult foster care home, and quickly “fell in love with working with seniors.”
She changed career paths, and for her next job, moved to another type of facility: a nursing home.
“Working at the nursing home, I was … just eager to spread myself around,” she said. “I decided that I would work at assisted living as well, because I wanted to know the difference.”
During the week she clocked into the nursing home. Weekends she spent at the assisted living facility.