Clarview agrees to help with hospital surge

From staff reports

Clarview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Piney Township will be one of four new “long-term care regional support sites” aimed at relieving pressure on hospitals and skilled nursing facilities due to a high number of patients with COVID-19.

The agreement was announced Monday afternoon by Clarview, the state Department of Health, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and the state Department of Veteran Affairs.

According to a news release from Clarview, it will serve as a “regional decompression site”, to allow for more rapid discharge of hospital patients who can be safely cared for in a nursing facility setting.

“Clarview has offered one of its unoccupied nursing units that is completely separate from our current residents’ unit, as a physical site for the regional efforts,” stated the release. “Through the initiative, staff will be provided who will care for patients in the new unit, separate from the regular staff.”

Mark O’Neill, press secretary for the state Department of Health, told the CLARION NEWS the state is not paying a fee to the skilled nursing facility for use of the space, but the facility will be reimbursed for wrap around services associated with the strike team efforts.

“Wrap around services are those services required to ensure residents receive the full spectrum of skilled nursing care,” O’Neill said in an email to the CLARION NEWS. “In coordination with the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, the Department of Health will seek reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the costs associated with the strike teams.”

According to the news release, the decompression center at Clarview is scheduled to open with a week to 10 days, said a statement from the state Department of Health. Clarview, along with Vincentian Home in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County; Lutheran Home in Hollidaysburg, Blair County; and Springs at the Watermark in Philadelphia, will receive clinical and non-clinical support staff to open up to 30 beds to allow for more rapid discharge of patients from hospitals, when clinically safe to do so, freeing additional acute care space to meet COVID demands. General Healthcare Resources will provide clinical staff, including RNs, LPNs and CNAs.

Pennsylvania National Guard will provide non-clinical staffing to support the facility’s existing staff; and PEMA will assist in the coordination.

O’Neill said as part of the Department of Health’s long-term regional support to reduce the strain on hospitals across Pennsylvania, the Clarview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Clarion County will work with the department to accept patients from both the local area and the Northwest region of the state to ensure regional decompression of acute care facilities.

No impact on Clarview staff

According to the Clarview news release, Clarview leadership has been working closely with state officials from the department of health and PEMA to quickly mobilize the decompression unit without impacting the care and services provided to our current residents and families.

“The government agencies will deploy all of the nursing staff as well as some ancillary department personnel to provide care on the decompression unit,” the Clarview statement read. “The arrangement between Clarview and state officials has been intentionally structured to avoid putting any additional strain on our current Clarview team. State officials anticipate operating regional decompression units for the next 90 days.”

The Clarview statement said the Clarview board of directors wanted to be good partners to the commonwealth’s agencies as well as its regional hospital partners in providing quality care to area residents who need skilled nursing services and ensure those who need hospital care receive that care and service at the time it is needed.

“We feel this is one way Clarview can play an active role in alleviating the current healthcare crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Mary Louise Logue, a member of the Clarview Board of Directors. “Our local hospitals are full and experiencing difficulty in accommodating all who need care. Offering a vacant unit, separate our current residents, to assist the healthcare system in providing the right care at the right time in the right setting is a contribution that Clarview can provide to assist in this state-wide effort.”