BATON ROUGE, La. – A recent report from the office of the Louisiana Legislative Auditor revealed just how much of an impact the COVID-19 health crisis had on the state’s nursing facilities.
According to an analysis from auditors, Louisiana’s nursing facilities faced staffing challenges throughout the pandemic due to staff exposure to COVID-19, illness, or the need to care for family members.
Auditors say that in addition to this, nursing facilities did not have adequate access to certain types of personal protective equipment at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Officials also note that the facilities did not always have the needed testing supplies, and that laboratories did not consistently provide test results in a timely manner.
Problems were also revealed in the oversight of the quality of care, auditors say. Their report indicates that quality of care may have decreased after the Louisiana Department of Health required nursing facilities to restrict entry of visitors and non-essential healthcare personnel.
It was also reported that revenues for nursing facilities decreased due to a decline in the number of residents caused by pandemic-related deaths and lower admissions, according to the report.
