McSally Advocates for Safety of Seniors in Assisted Living Facilities, Nursing Homes

Press Release

U.S. Senator Martha McSally (R-AZ) today asked how we can further protect seniors living in assisted living facilities and nursing homes during the continued COVID-19 pandemic.

During a U.S. Senate Committee on Aging hearing on caring for seniors amid the coronavirus pandemic, McSally looked to address some of the challenges private senior living facilities face in getting access to personal protective equipment and testing.

"In Arizona, as of last night, there have been 747 deaths related to the coronavirus and 593 are over the age of 65 so that's about 79 percent," McSally said. "This is a cruel virus as we all know, and it's the cruelest to our most vulnerable and this is the greatest generation we're talking about … There's been an important focus on nursing homes, but we also need to think about those in memory care, those in assisted living, those who are older but in independent living. My mom is 85. She is in good health for her age. She is in an independent living facility, but she also has been isolated for two months now."

"For all congregate settings, one of the challenges is where there's oversight of our nursing homes in Arizona--oversight from HHS, oversight at the state and county level--the independent living and the assisted living are usually private entities. They're trying to get PPE, trying to get testing. It's not an easy, top-down thing to do with the supply chains. We've had many innovations in Arizona. One company I visited, AMSafe, used to make seat belts and air bags for airplanes. They've just started making masks and gowns to support our nursing homes in Arizona which is just an incredible story."

"I think our testing needs to be focused on staff, ideally visitors and others that are going to go in there, high levels of situational awareness, plus the levels of controls that we've learned to be able to isolate and treat quickly. What does that look like, not just for nursing homes, but for everyone who is in a congregate setting?"

Tamara Konetzka, University of Chicago Professor of Health Services Research, said: "First, thank you very much for that question because I think there is a tendency to focus only on nursing homes, and in many states, assisted living homes look just like nursing homes…I think your question about social isolation in these situations, not just assisted living, but also independent living is a huge challenge. I think at the riskiest time when we have to prohibit visitors, some things can be done, like making sure that these facilities have appropriate technology so that residents can at least communicate through FaceTime or video chats with their families on a regular basis."

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