Report: 1 in 5 nursing homes face serious lack of PPE, staff shortagesA comprehensive review of data submitted by more than 15,000 US nursing homes revealed that about 20% faced a staff shortage or severe shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) in early July, months into the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study in Health Affairs yesterday.US researchers analyzed staff and PPE shortage data submitted by 15,035 nursing homes (98% of the total) into the Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) COVID-19 Nursing Home Database.
They looked at data submitted from May 18 to Jun 14 and compared it to information submitted from Jun 24 to Jul 19. PPE included N95 respirators, masks, gowns, and gloves.At the end of the first study period, 20.7%