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Pierre, SD, USA / DRGNews
May 10, 2021 | 6:20 AM
The theme for National Skilled Nursing Care Week (NSNCW) 2021 is “Together Through the Seasons.” NSNCW will take place May 9-15, 2021, and the theme will honor the collaborative commitment of skilled nursing care facilities and their staff in providing compassionate care to their residents during this unprecedented time.
Over the past year, despite the challenges of the pandemic, skilled care centers and their staff have shown an incredible and steadfast commitment to providing quality care and ensuring the safety of their residents.
NSNCW 2021 will focus on this collective effort and the amazing strength and dedication of those who work tirelessly every day to care for and protect frail, elderly, and disabled adults in long term care. With each new season comes new beginnings, new strategies, and new information. Together we will get through this and together we will begin to heal.
Pierre, SD, USA / DRGNews
Mar 12, 2021 9:22 AM
The South Dakota Health Care Association (SDHCA) is welcoming new guidance released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) loosening visitation restrictions in long term care settings. The new guidance acknowledges the impact of the COVID-19 vaccine in making safe visitation possible.
“The easing of visitation restrictions is very welcome news. Nearly all long term care residents in South Dakota have gotten their vaccine, and long term care providers have been eager to open their doors to safe visitation,” said Mark B. Deak, Executive Director of the South Dakota Health Care Association. “While we are not yet ‘back to normal,’ this is a good step in the right direction.”
The state is using a portion of its remaining pandemic relief money to help some facilities pay the bills.
Jenkins Living Center in Watertown went largely untouched by COVID-19 for the first few months of the pandemic. That changed during the statewide surge that began in October. As South Dakota’s COVID rates reached record highs, senior facilities found it more difficult to keep the virus out.
Loren Diekman is president and CEO of the facility, which is one of the largest in the state. He says around half of his residents and 35% of his staff tested positive for COVID between mid-October and late November. Without statewide public health restrictions, infection rates and death rates continued to increase.
Report: SD nursing homes hardest hit by COVID-19
One in 10 nursing home residents in South Dakota have died from COVID-19, and more than 40% of nursing homes in the state have lost a 10th or more of their patients to the coronavirus, according to a report from the Center for Public Integrity, based on analysis of data from the federal Centers for Medicaid and Medicaid Services. 12:15 pm, Dec. 22, 2020 ×
As pictured in a 2018 file photo, the Burke Community Memorial Hospital. (Matt Gade / Republic)
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. South Dakota nursing homes were the hardest hit in the nation among a fall COVID-19 surge in the state, according to federal data underpinning a report published Tuesday, Dec. 22.