Tim Evans, Emily Hopkins and Tony Cook, Indianapolis Star
Published
5:19 pm UTC Jan. 23, 2021
For more than nine months, Indiana officials reassured the public that nursing homes were receiving the help they needed to handle the pandemic and protect vulnerable residents.
But the state never really got it under control.
The weekly death toll inside nursing homes is as bad as it has ever been. In all, more than 3,100 nursing home residents have died from COVID-19. Many died alone, their families unable to offer comfort or even say goodbye.
It didn’t have to be that way.
An IndyStar investigation has found longstanding, systemic problems left thousands of Hoosiers in nursing homes that are among the most poorly staffed in the nation. In some, even the simplest aspects of care are too often ignored. Now, Indiana’s long-term care residents are dying of COVID-19 at a rate that is among the highest in the U.S.
But the state never really got it under control.
The weekly death toll inside nursing homes is as bad as it has ever been. In all, more than 3,100 nursing home residents have died from COVID-19. Many died alone, their families unable to offer comfort or even say goodbye.
It didnât have to be that way.
An IndyStar investigation has found longstanding, systemic problems left thousands of Hoosiers in nursing homes that are among the most poorly staffed in the nation. In some, even the simplest aspects of care are too often ignored.
Now, Indianaâs long-term care residents are dying of COVID-19 at a rate that is among the highest in the U.S.