New Admissions and Residents Who Leave the Facility

Please see the CDC Guidance below as it relates to New Admissions and Residents Who Leave the Facility.  We have confirmed with the New York State Department of Health that such guidance is current. 

Create a Plan for Managing New Admissions and Readmissions

• Residents with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection who have not met criteria for discontinuation of Transmission-Based Precautions should be placed in the designated COVID-19 care unit.
• In general, all other new admissions and readmissions should be placed in a 14-day quarantine, even if they have a negative test upon admission.
  • Exceptions include residents within 3 months of a SARS-CoV-2 infection and fully vaccinated residents as described in CDC’s Updated Healthcare Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations in Response to COVID-19 Vaccination.
  • Facilities located in areas with minimal to no community transmission might elect to use a risk-based approach for determining which residents require quarantine upon admission. Decisions should be based on whether the resident had close contact with someone with SARS-CoV-2 infection while outside the facility and if there was consistent adherence to IPC practices in healthcare settings, during transportation, or in the community prior to admission.

Guidance addressing placement, duration, and recommended PPE when caring for residents in quarantine is described in Section: Manage Residents who have had Close Contact with Someone with SARS-CoV-2 Infection.

Create a Plan for Residents Who Leave the Facility

• Residents who leave the facility should be reminded to follow all recommended IPC practices including source control, physical distancing, and hand hygiene and to encourage those around them to do the same.
  • Individuals accompanying residents (e.g., transport personnel, family members) should also be educated about these IPC practices and should assist the resident with adherence.
• For residents going to medical appointments, regular communication between the medical facility and the nursing home (in both directions) is essential to help identify residents with potential exposures or symptoms of COVID-19 before they enter the facility so that proper precautions can be implemented.
• In most circumstances, quarantine is not recommended for residents who leave the facility for less than 24 hours (e.g., for medical appointments, community outings with family or friends) and do not have close contact with someone with SARS-CoV-2 infection.
  • Quarantining residents who regularly leave the facility for medical appointments (e.g., dialysis, chemotherapy) would result in indefinite isolation of the resident that likely outweighs any potential benefits of quarantine.
• Facilities might consider quarantining residents who leave the facility if, based on an assessment of risk, uncertainty exists about their adherence or the adherence of those around them to recommended IPC measures.

• Residents who leave the facility for 24 hours or longer should generally be managed as described in the New Admission and Readmission section.
  

NYSHFA/NYSCAL CONTACTS:

Lisa Volk, RN, B.P.S., LNHA
Director, Clinical & Quality Services
518-462-4800 x15

Tarrah A. Quinlan
Director, Education Program Development & Member Operations
518-462-4800, x20