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Please take a moment to read this piece in the @Suntimes about nursing home quality and COVID-19 by @FrankMainNews @bylaurenfitz & @carolinehurls. If you want a little more background, there's a map of nursing homes and their ratings from @chihacknight https://chicago.suntimes.com/coronavirus/2020/5/8/21252343/low-rated-nursing-homes-cook-county-covid-19-death-traps
At @chihacknight some of us put together this map using the @MedicareGov info the Sun-Times is referencing in the article. The red dots are the nursing homes with the lowest ratings. http://chicagonursinghomesearch.com/
Making the app was an eye-opening experience. I hope this horrific situation will help us get the changes in Springfield @BrandonCCD1 describes in the article. There's more info in our about page http://chicagonursinghomesearch.com/about
We found a lot of great groups working on improving the nursing homes situation, approaching it in different but complimentary ways. There's @sharenetworkchi, @CaregiverAction, @SEIUhciimk, and last but most certainly not least https://illinoispioneercoalition.org/
Also, before he got the gig at @city_bureau, Pat Sier put in a lot of work to make the nursing home app happen. If you want see some additional great Pat Sier work, then tune in Tuesday night at 6:00 https://chihacknight.org/events/2020/05/12/pat-sier.html
Here in NE Illinois, but also all around the country, over the last few decades for-profit companies bought up nursing homes from religious organizations and other types of non-profits. And then the quality dropped severely. Here's some background: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/07/business/coronavirus-nursing-homes.html
I'll post a few other articles for folks who want to read up on this. Here's a good one from @AustinWeeklyChi https://www.austinweeklynews.com/News/Articles/5-8-2020/County-commissioner-calls-for-tougher-nursing-home-regulations/
Here's a good one from last week on @WBEZ by @ChipMitchell1 at that point "Illinois nursing homes [then] account[ed] for 44% of the state’s deaths due to COVID-19" and that number has grown since then. https://www.wbez.org/stories/nursing-homes-account-for-44-of-coronavirus-deaths-in-illinois/42630f99-a016-4d0e-a390-6ad1921a9152
Here's one from @byaliceyin talking about @BrandonCCD1's the Save our Seniors plan. https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-westchester-health-rehabilitation-center-reforms-family-20200507-bq7k4sujuffd3okicjusqwdbtq-story.html
If you want the data straight from the source, here's the @IDPH page https://www.dph.illinois.gov/covid19/long-term-care-facility-outbreaks-covid-19
And of course the @MedicareGov nursing home data is key to understanding and comparing nursing homes https://data.medicare.gov/data/nursing-home-compare
Also, @estheryjkang had this one a few weeks ago that takes you inside some nursing homes from staff perspectives. I think it's really important to see how all this actually works in the real world and not focus exclusively on the data. https://www.wbez.org/stories/workers-offer-troubling-view-inside-chicago-nursing-homes-fighting-covid-19/3d3e10ec-7d0d-4c9b-a359-58502433931f
But data is important! So, check out @ChicagoEl's excellent nursing home COVID-19 maps https://www.wbez.org/stories/new-data-show-covid-19s-deadly-reach-at-illinois-nursing-homes/20a1ff9d-571d-496e-b3e2-8c94915a44f0
And @eads's indispensable app to check your zip code https://www.chicagoreporter.com/how-is-covid-19-affecting-your-zip-code-in-illinois/
Has anyone done a good map or other viz that shows the nursing home ratings and the number of COVID-19 cases? Last obnoxious tag of the thread, I promise! But I bet @eads @ChicagoEl @carolinehurls or @forestgregg would know.
Also, for folks following this stuff, Tamara Konetzka is a local expert who knows a lot about these issues. She was gracious enough to spend some time talking to us when we were building our nursing home app. She just published this paper in January https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2759755
"See where they are in our updated table below:" https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/nbc5-investigates-has-found-146-unreported-coronavirus-deaths-at-illinois-nursing-homes-heres-where-they-are/2270313/
"So far, 30,000 tests have been provided to 129 long-term facilities throughout the state, according to Pritzker." https://news.wttw.com/2020/05/13/pritzker-provides-update-nursing-homes-state-sets-record-covid-19-deaths
"The Tribune interviewed more than a dozen advocates, researchers, families and industry representatives. They say they sympathize with the state’s challenges in fighting an unprecedented pandemic but argue it should be doing more." https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-coronavirus-illinois-nursing-homes-regulators-pritzker-20200513-3bdofjnaivhadg2yt7kcf2psm4-story.html
"While other Illinois nursing homes may have seen larger overall numbers of cases and deaths, almost none have experienced an outbreak on the scale of the one here." This piece in @ProPublicaIL by @Jodiscohen and Haru Coryne is a must-read. https://www.propublica.org/article/a-quarter-of-the-residents-at-this-nursing-home-died-from-covid-19-families-want-answers
Long-term care and nursing homes in Illinois account for about 15% of the total number of people infected but almost half of the people who have died. https://abc7chicago.com/health/nearly-half-of-illinois-covid-19-deaths-linked-to-long-term-care-facilities/6186917/
In case you haven't seen it already, I'm a big fan of @COVID19Tracking and their beta COVID Racial Data Tracker stuff looks really promising. https://covidtracking.com/race
"There is no comprehensive national data available to determine whether the rate of infections and deaths at Life Care facilities is higher than at other chains — or how often other chains have been cited for violations after the pandemic began." https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/major-nursing-home-chain-violated-patient-care-infection-control-standards-before--and-after--pandemic-started-records-show/2020/05/16/f407c092-90b1-11ea-a0bc-4e9ad4866d21_story.html
New letter to the editor in the Sun-Times from Commissioner Johnson. "The first step to save lives is to evacuate coronavirus-infected residents from the lowest-rated facilities until the virus is contained or they recover." https://chicago.suntimes.com/2020/5/17/21260205/covid-nursing-home-deaths-personal-liberties-illinois-lockdown-first-amendment-letters-s-e-cupp
New one out from @estheryjkang at @WBEZ. Some good interviews with folks inside the nursing homes feeling like "sitting ducks."Also good quotes from @Alliance4Comm. I didn't realize the Ombudsmen aren't allowed in now. https://www.wbez.org/stories/as-coronavirus-spreads-in-chicago-nursing-homes-fears-grow-among-residents/50f5dfb1-305f-4427-b720-6b8ac5ac651e
Another important read just came out this morning in a @jsmithrichards & @Jodiscohen @chicagotribune & @propublica collaboration. Not nursing homes, but definitely related. Lots of good data work but also interviews to help understand the situation. https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-coronavirus-illinois-developmental-centers-20200522-phcgivbl3bbtvdzuaqjmmygjc4-story.html
The video is up with @UChicago's Dr. Tamara Konetzka's testimony to a Senate Special Committee about nursing home issues. Lots of important details. Good exploration of the nuances. Also, some ideas for how to make things better. She starts at 26:14. https://www.aging.senate.gov/hearings/caring-for-seniors-amid-the-covid-19-crisis
