Oswego Health to use Exelon-donated iPads for virtual meetings with patients

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OSWEGO — Oswego Health says it is using 30 iPads that Exelon (NASDAQ: EXC) donated to the organization so it can conduct virtual meetings with its Medicaid patients that need services. Exelon, based in Chicago, operates the James A. Fitzpatrick and the Nine Mile Point nuclear power plants in Scriba. With the current state of […]

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OSWEGO — Oswego Health says it is using 30 iPads that Exelon (NASDAQ: EXC) donated to the organization so it can conduct virtual meetings with its Medicaid patients that need services.

Exelon, based in Chicago, operates the James A. Fitzpatrick and the Nine Mile Point nuclear power plants in Scriba.

With the current state of the pandemic, Oswego Health’s care-management unit is “finding it more difficult” to assist clients with coordinating care because many of them don’t have access to the proper technology, the organization said in a news release.

For those reasons, Deanne Meyers-Acome, Oswego Health’s care-coordination manager, worked with the Oswego Health Foundation to contact Exelon to see if the company could provide any additional support.

Exelon upgrades its technology regularly and donates used equipment to local nonprofits.

“It’s always been a focus of our organization to assure excess resources go to helping the right people. This was the perfect opportunity to give back and help bridge the coordination challenges facing care management and their clients.” Nick Millard, corporate maintenance instructor at Exelon, said. “Exelon is happy to provide Oswego Health care management with 30 iPads to assist their clients in the community with access to care through Telemed. In addition, the iPads can be used for families that have multiple children that may be limited in devices to access their educational needs to complete schoolwork as we know these care managers are offering support however their clients need it.”

Oswego Health cites data from NY State of Health, New York’s online health-insurance marketplace, as indicating more than 20,000 Oswego County residents were enrolled in Medicaid during 2019.

Many of those residents need additional support and assistance with services. Oswego Health’s care-management group meets clients “regularly” to help manage their medical needs, social needs, and behavioral needs, per the release.

Some examples of the assistance it provides are coordinating care with providers, therapists, educational needs, housing solutions, transportation, along with offering additional support so individuals can live a healthy life.

Oswego Health care management

The Oswego Health care-management team includes 17 care managers that specialize in children or adults. On average, the children’s care managers service 25 Medicaid clients each per month in Oswego County and the adult-care managers service 40 clients a month.

In total, the Oswego Health care-management group is an extension of service to more than 1,000 Medicaid clients throughout the community yearly and about 30 non-Medicaid children that are contracted through the county with the Oswego Health care-management unit.

Upstate Medical University expands neurosurgery services with hiring of three doctors

Health Care, Subscriber Only

SYRACUSE — Upstate Medical University announced that it has expanded its neurosurgery department with the hiring of three new surgeons, allowing Upstate to offer “additional and expanded services to a larger region of New York.” It has hired Dr. Harish Babu, Dr. Ali Hazama, and Dr. Timothy Beutler. The three new neurosurgeons expand Upstate’s existing

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It has hired Dr. Harish Babu, Dr. Ali Hazama, and Dr. Timothy Beutler.

The three new neurosurgeons expand Upstate’s existing department, making it the largest neurosurgical team in Central New York. The expansion of the department by nearly a third will allow Upstate to provide neurosurgical care to a wider portion of New York state, Dr. Satish Krishnamurthy, interim chair of the department, said in a release.

“Upstate’s department of neurosurgery has been serving the region for more than 60 years,” Krishnamurthy said. “We are dedicated to the Upstate Medical University mission to improve the health of the communities we serve through education, biomedical research and patient care. The addition of these three specialist neurosurgeons will enable us to provide excellent patient care to more patients in more specialty areas.”

The department of neurosurgery multispecialty group offers advanced care and technologies as well as “basic, translational and clinical research aimed at finding new treatments and improved strategies” for disorders of the brain and spine.

The department plays a central role in Upstate facilities, including the region’s “only” adult and pediatric Level-1 trauma center; Upstate Cancer Center; the Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital’s neonatal care units; the comprehensive stroke center; and the region’s telestroke network, which supports stroke care at 11 hospitals across Upstate and Central New York.

About the doctors

Babu joins Upstate Medical after completing residency from the department of neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Following residency training, he completed fellowships first in epilepsy/functional neurosurgery at the University of Toronto in Canada, followed by tumor/skull base neurosurgery fellowship at the Center for Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, Australia. Babu obtained his doctoral degree in neuroscience from Charite Medical University in Germany. His specializations at Upstate Medical will include adult brain tumors, skull-base tumors, and gamma knife; functional (epilepsy), general and spinal surgeries.

Hazama has been a resident in the department of neurosurgery at Upstate Medical since 2013. He is a graduate of Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science. Hazama’s specialties at Upstate will include general, spine, and minimally invasive spine surgery. He will practice at Upstate Community Hospital and the downtown campus.

Dr. Timothy Beutler completed a residency in neurological surgery at Upstate Medical University, which began in 2013 and included a fellowship in Neuro Critical Care (CAST Program) from 2017 to 2018. Beutler is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. His specialties at Upstate Medical will include critical care, general, and spine. He is Upstate’s first neurosurgeon dedicated to critical care neurosurgery.

Pathfinder Bancorp Q2 profit triples to $1.8 million

Banks & Credit Unions, Subscriber Only

OSWEGO — Pathfinder Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: PBHC) recently reported that its second quarter net income rose three-fold to $1.8 million from $607,000 a year ago, boosted by strong revenue growth and earning-asset increases, as well as expense reductions. The holding company for Pathfinder Bank said its earnings per share rose to 31 cents from 11

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The holding company for Pathfinder Bank said its earnings per share rose to 31 cents from 11 cents a year earlier. Pathfinder’s second-quarter revenue (net- interest income, before provision for loans losses, and total noninterest income) totaled $9.2 million, up nearly 16 percent from $7.9 million in the second quarter of 2019.

Pathfinder’s second quarter net-interest income improved to $7.6 million, up 14 percent from $6.7 million for the prior-year quarter.

The bank’s second quarter 2020 provision for loan losses was $1.1 million, an increase of $536,000 compared to $610,000 for last year’s second quarter, primarily a result of continued uncertainty regarding potential credit losses due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic

Pathfinder’s total interest-earning assets as of June 30, 2020 were $1.1 billion, an increase of almost 19 percent from $922.2 million a year before.

Total loans stood at $806 million as of June 30, up 3 percent from $781.5 million as of Dec. 31, 2019, and up 16 percent from $692.8 million as of June 30, 2019

Total deposits of $970.6 million as of June 30, 2020 were up 10 percent from the start of 2020 and up 20 percent from a year earlier.

Impact of COVID-19

“The first six months of 2020, and particularly the second quarter, was unpredictable and highly unusual, relative to any other economic disruption in my 20 years as Pathfinder Bank’s leader, and in my 37 years in the financial services industry,” Thomas W. Schneider, president and CEO of Pathfinder Bancorp and Pathfinder Bank, said in the banking company’s Aug. 3 earnings report.

Pathfinder said its participation in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for small businesses and nonprofits resulted in the funding of 680 loans, totaling $75.1 million, to existing and new customers within its market.

“We expect the PPP loan forgiveness process to occur primarily throughout the second-half of 2020 and result, along with anticipated lower funding costs, in an enhancement to net interest margin,” the banking company said.

Pathfinder says its branch operations have largely fully resumed following earlier shutdowns amid the pandemic.

“I am also pleased to be able to report that our branch locations returned to ‘close-to-normal’ operations by the latter part of the [second] quarter. While we continue to maintain strict adherence to physical distancing and hygiene protocols, at all of our facilities, we can say that the majority of our personal service options have been fully restored. The protocols in place are designed to protect the health of our customers and our critical front-line employees, and will remain in effect, for the duration of this pandemic response,” Schneider said. “We continue to encourage our customers to utilize our various digital channels and drive-through facilities for transactions whenever possible. We are confident that these alternative-service delivery capabilities will effectively handle most regular banking transactions in a manner that is both safe and continuously available.”

The chief executive continued, “We are fortunate that, to this point in time, our Central New York market area has been less impacted by COVID-19 than the downstate regions of New York State. The downstate regions had a much higher incidence of infection and resultant disruption to personal routines and business activity, than we have experienced in Central New York. Our region was able to move through New York State’s strict reopening protocols more quickly than most other areas, which was beneficial to our individual and business customers alike. As a result, we are starting to see a return to more normal individual and business transaction activity.”

Pathfinder Bank is a New York State chartered commercial bank headquartered in Oswego. The bank has 10 full-service offices located in its market areas consisting of Oswego and Onondaga County and one limited-purpose office in Oneida County.

Borton named to key position on industry consortium steering committee

Subscriber Only

CICERO — Nicholas Borton, lead firmware engineer at SRC, Inc., has been elected steering committee vice chair of the Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA) Consortium, the company announced. As vice chair, Borton will assist in setting priorities and resolving conflicts within the consortium and will play a critical role in guiding the organization toward a

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DEC completes construction of new $622,000 Otisco Lake boat launch site

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Regional News, Sports, Entertainment & Tourism, Subscriber Only

SPAFFORD — The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) recently announced that the new boat launch site on Otisco Lake is complete and open to the public. The boat launch is located at 1490 West Valley Road in the town of Spafford. The DEC funded the project with $599,740 through the Environmental Protection

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SPAFFORD — The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) recently announced that the new boat launch site on Otisco Lake is complete and open to the public.

The boat launch is located at 1490 West Valley Road in the town of Spafford.

The DEC funded the project with $599,740 through the Environmental Protection Fund and $22,260 through New York Works, for a total project cost of $622,000. The new launch site complements the DEC Otisco Lake fishing-access site at the causeway, located about 200 yards to the north.

Features of the new boat launch include:

• New concrete launch ramp and floating boarding dock to allow the launching of trailered motorboats even if water levels fluctuate

• Accessible-designated parking for one vehicle with trailer and one passenger vehicle

• Wheelchair-accessible portable toilet

• Solar-powered safety lighting, down-lit to minimize light pollution

• Invasive-species disposal bin

• Designated boat-preparation area

• Paved parking area with separate entrance and exit that accommodates 13 vehicles with trailers and 13 single vehicles.

Prior to the boat launch’s completion, Otisco Lake was the only one of the Finger Lakes without a public boat launch, the DEC says. With this facility, boaters will have a new option to explore the region and its fishing and boating-related recreational opportunities, the department said.

“This modern facility offers parking for boat trailers and passenger vehicles and provides safe and convenient features accessible to visitors of all abilities,” DEC Region 7 Director Matthew Marko said in a statement.

Town of Spafford Supervisor Christopher Kozub said, “I’m happy there will now be public boat access to Otisco. The new launch provides an opportunity for people to enjoy recreation on this beautiful lake and have more opportunities to take advantage of this top-notch fishery.”

Otisco Lake is the most easterly of the 11 Finger Lakes and is eighth in size, with a surface area of about 2,200 acres. It lies wholly within Onondaga County. The lake’s variety of fish species include tiger muskellunge, walleye, large and smallmouth bass, brown trout, bluegill, pumpkinseed, sunfish, black and white crappie, and yellow perch.

Morrisville College Foundation elects three new directors

Health Care, Regional News, Subscriber Only

MORRISVILLE — The Morrisville College Foundation announced it has elected three new directors to its 25-member board. The new members — Shirley Crawford of Canastota, Nancy Roberts of Saratoga Springs, and Rita Scharman of Sherrill — took office on July 1. Each will serve a three-year term. Crawford has served as a member of the

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MORRISVILLE — The Morrisville College Foundation announced it has elected three new directors to its 25-member board.

The new members — Shirley Crawford of Canastota, Nancy Roberts of Saratoga Springs, and Rita Scharman of Sherrill — took office on July 1. Each will serve a three-year term.

Crawford has served as a member of the biology faculty at SUNY Morrisville since 1973. As the longest-serving faculty member in Morrisville’s history, she has taught thousands of students during her tenure and is the faculty member most frequently credited by alumni as having impacted their education and future career, the college said. Crawford and her husband, Jack, have an extensive philanthropic history with the college through the Crawford Endowed Scholarship and Crawford Hall named in their honor. Crawford holds doctoral degrees from SUNY ESF and Syracuse University, a master’s degree from Rollins College in Florida, and a bachelor’s degree from Penn State University.

Roberts has been a professor at the University at Albany, teaching journalism and communication since 2004. An expert on the history of journalism and communication and on literary journalism, she has a special interest in the history of advocacy journalism. Roberts is the daughter of the late Art Roberts, “a beloved” SUNY Morrisville faculty member, and his wife, Doris, the college said. Roberts has been a long-time supporter of the Art & Doris Roberts Scholarship, named in her parents’ honor. She earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Swarthmore College, a master’s degree in American studies from Brown University, and a master’s and Ph.D. in mass communication from the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities.

Scharman is president of Scharman Propane Gas, Inc. After completing her accounting degree at Morrisville, she earned her bachelor’s degree at SUNY Polytechnic Institute. She worked as an auditor before taking over the family business, Scharman Propane Gas Inc., in 1988. A longtime lover of horses, Scharman has demonstrated her support for Morrisville’s equine program, setting up two scholarships and sponsoring critical equipment for the program. Recently, she funded the Division of Nursing Endowment, the first divisional endowed fund at Morrisville. The Rita L. Scharman ‘81 Equine Rehabilitation Center Swimming Pool and Scharman Arena at the college’s rehabilitation center are named in her honor.

The Morrisville College Foundation was founded in 1976 to serve as the fundraising arm for SUNY Morrisville. The foundation seeks and distributes charitable gifts from private sources to provide opportunities for students and the college that are not funded by state resources. All gifts to the foundation support SUNY Morrisville students through scholarships, academic enrichment, and co-curricular programming like intercollegiate athletics.

How to Keep Going When You Want It All to Go Away

Business Mentors, Subscriber Only

How long will the Damocles Sword of the coronavirus pandemic hang over our heads? As the days drag on, will it threaten to upend us indefinitely? Even though we try to avoid thinking about the troubling possibilities, they keep creeping into our minds, creating more stress, clouding our ability to stay focused, and leaving us

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It’s not a pretty picture — not one we could possibly imagine ever facing. So, when we’re confused and uncertain about the future, what are we to do? Here are some thoughts about that bothersome question.

1. Don’t listen to yourself

Why does it always happen when we are trying to get to sleep at night? But that’s the way it is. What’s so upsetting is that the person who causes the anxiety and does the damage is the one who lives inside our head. We are never our own best friend in the middle of the night.

So, stop listening to yourself. It’s time for a personal fact-checker, but neither Alexa nor Siri qualify. This is a job for someone you trust. Ask, “This is what’s concerning me. Am I on track or off the rails?”

2. Look for new possibilities

The good news is that life is not a matter of choosing the right fake Zoom background to convince ourselves (and others) that we’re more than just OK. It amounts to more than that.

Recently, an editor sent me one of my sales articles. He had kept it until he found the right place for it. Recognizing that it had been around for about a year, he asked if I would look it over to see if it needed updating. Well, my first reaction was less than positive. But, swallowing my pride, I read it and was shocked at what I found. In a relatively short time, the world changed dramatically and the article needed updating to reflect what had transpired.

People are no different, so it may be time to ask yourself a tough question, “Am I dated?” Think about it. What can you do to “update” yourself? Sure, you may know your job “backwards and forwards,” but that doesn’t count anymore. Focus on figuring out how to revise your performance. How can you make what you do more relevant? What can you do to enhance your value? Think about the possibilities.

3. Get better acquainted with yourself

If you really want to get to know yourself as you really are, you might want to spend time in Wyoming. But be prepared, Wyomingites aren’t subtle. They don’t tip-toe around; they’re not afraid to tell it like it is, no matter who you are. Having lived there, I speak from experience. For example, I recall the memorable words of a motorcycle-riding English professor from the UW: “If you can’t write it, you don’t know it.” Got it!

Here is the point. If you want to get better acquainted with yourself, jot down life experiences from your early memories to what is happening now. Don’t just remember them, get them on paper. Write them down as they come to mind. Ideas never come all at once. If you really want to know yourself, start writing. You may like what you discover.

4. Be ready for the unexpected

How many times in the last six months have you heard someone say, perhaps wistfully, “I’ll sure be glad when life gets back to the way it was.” Even though we may not have said it out loud, most everyone has harbored the thought more than a few times. It’s just too much to let ourselves think that going back is not an option.

If we have learned anything from the pandemic, it’s that we should learn to keep an eye out for surprises and the unexpected, or, as the slang would have it, they come from “out of left field.”

Even though we may not like to think that everything is up for grabs because of the pandemic, it is: the way we live, work, play, learn, shop, think, do business, and behave. It’s all changing and will surely continue to evolve. Keeping an eye out for the unpredictable will make living easier and more rewarding.

5. Change the picture of yourself

Add continuing uncertainty to the pervasive impact of COVID-19 and it’s more than enough to distort our picture of ourselves and crush our self-confidence. It’s too much to let ourselves think about what could possibly be coming next.

Perhaps not. How we happen to view ourselves is not a given or chiseled in stone, unless, we allow ourselves to look at it that way. In a wonderful essay, “Homo Sapiens: The Unfinished Animal,” physicist George Stanciu, Ph.D., writes, “Nature gives human beings no specific way of life — no fixed occupation, no fitting dress, no appropriate emotional profile. It’s as if nature grew tired when she fashioned Homo sapiens and left this one species unfinished.”

And that’s good news. In spite of everything, what we do with what we are given has not been written or handed to us. Our story is unfinished — and it’s in our hands.

John Graham of GrahamComm is a marketing and sales strategy consultant and business writer. He is the creator of “Magnet Marketing,” and publishes a free monthly eBulletin, “No Nonsense Marketing & Sales Ideas.” Contact him at jgraham@grahamcomm.com or visit: johnrgraham.com

Rome Memorial Hospital wins AHA award for life-saving heart care

Health Care, Subscriber Only

ROME — Rome Memorial Hospital (RMH) announced it has received the Mission: Lifeline Gold Plus Referring Quality Achievement Award for implementing certain quality-improvement measures defined by the American Heart Association (AHA) for treatment of patients who suffer severe heart attacks. RMH says it’s the third year in a row that the hospital has been recognized

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RMH says it’s the third year in a row that the hospital has been recognized by AHA for saving lives.

Every year, more than 250,000 people experience an ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), the deadliest type of heart attack, caused by a blockage of blood flow to the heart that requires timely treatment, according to AHA. To prevent death, it’s vital to restore blood flow as rapidly as possible, either by mechanically opening the blocked vessel or by giving clot-busting medication.

AHA’s mission: Lifeline program’s goal is to reduce system barriers to prompt treatment for heart attacks, beginning with the 9-1-1 call, to EMS transport, and continuing through hospital treatment and discharge. The initiative offers tools, training, and other resources to support heart-attack care following protocols from the most recent evidence-based treatment guidelines.

RMH says it earned the award by meeting specific criteria and standards of performance for quick and appropriate treatment through emergency procedures to re-establish blood flow to blocked arteries in heart-attack patients coming into the hospital directly or by transfer from another facility.

“Every moment is vital in the event of a heart attack. Our team in the Emergency Department is trained to recognize the signs of a heart attack and implement the standards quickly,” Dr. Andrew Bushnell, medical director of emergency services at RMH, said in a statement. “Our collaboration with EMS providers and other area hospitals ensures that every step of the transfer process is done as efficiently as possible to save lives.”

Rome Memorial Hospital is a nonprofit health-care system providing services to patients throughout Central New York. It is an affiliate of St. Joseph’s Health and an affiliated clinical site of New York Medical College.

New York manufacturing index declines in August

Manufacturing & Engineering, Subscriber Only

Still indicates slight growth in manufacturing activity After increasing “significantly” in July for the first time since the pandemic began, manufacturing activity in New York state grew only “slightly” in August. The Empire State Manufacturing Survey general business-conditions index fell 14 points to 3.7 in August, “signaling a slower pace of growth than in

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Still indicates slight growth in manufacturing activity

After increasing “significantly” in July for the first time since the pandemic began, manufacturing activity in New York state grew only “slightly” in August.

The Empire State Manufacturing Survey general business-conditions index fell 14 points to 3.7 in August, “signaling a slower pace of growth than in July.”

The index had climbed 17 points in July to its first positive reading since February.

The August survey number — based on firms responding to the survey between Aug. 3 and Aug. 10 — indicates business activity edged “slightly higher” in New York, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in its Aug. 17 news release.

A positive reading indicates expansion or growth in manufacturing activity, while a negative index number points to a decline in the sector.

The survey found 34 percent of respondents reported that conditions had improved over the month, while 30 percent said that conditions had worsened, the New York Fed said.

Survey details

The new-orders index fell 16 points to -1.7, indicating that orders “levelled off,” and the shipments index fell 12 points to 6.7, pointing to a “modest” increase in shipments.

Delivery times were steady. Unfilled orders and inventories declined.

The index for number of employees edged up to 2.4, indicating that employment levels inched “slightly higher.” The average-workweek index fell four points to -6.8, pointing to a decline in hours worked.

The prices-paid index was little changed at 16.0, signaling that input prices increased at about the same pace as last month. The prices-received index climbed above zero, indicating that selling prices increased for the first time since March.

The index for future business conditions moved down four points to 34.3, suggesting that firms remained optimistic about future conditions, though less so than the prior two months. The indexes for future new orders and future shipments posted similar readings, and firms expect to increase employment in the months ahead.

The capital-expenditures index came in at 6.0, a sign that firms, “on net, planned small increases” in capital spending.

The New York Fed distributes the Empire State Manufacturing Survey on the first day of each month to the same pool of about 200 manufacturing executives in New York. On average, about 100 executives return responses.

Opinion: Steps NYS can take to Combat the Return of COVID-19 in Assisted-Living Facilities

Opinion, Subscriber Only

OPINION The COVID-19 pandemic brought unparalleled challenges and wreaked havoc on nearly every industry. Thousands of residents in assisted-living communities [across the state] experienced a sudden separation from their friends and families, while staff and management of these facilities struggled to keep up with demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) as they implemented rigid, enhanced

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OPINION

The COVID-19 pandemic brought unparalleled challenges and wreaked havoc on nearly every industry.

Thousands of residents in assisted-living communities [across the state] experienced a sudden separation from their friends and families, while staff and management of these facilities struggled to keep up with demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) as they implemented rigid, enhanced health-screening protocols to prevent virus spread internally.

Although nursing homes and assisted-living communities operate under very different conditions, they both serve a growing population of elderly New Yorkers. New York’s more than 500 licensed adult-care facility/assisted-living providers serve seniors who need ongoing supervision and assistance with activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, and taking medications, but in general do not require round-the-clock skilled nursing care like that provided in a nursing home. It’s largely for this this reason that assisted-living communities experienced a far lower rate of COVID cases or fatalities than did nursing homes.

New York bravely stood at the forefront of the COVID outbreak and the lessons learned during this spring will help better prepare us for the likely resurgence this fall and winter. But it behooves the state now to recognize the operational distinctions between nursing homes and assisted-living/adult-care facilities and provide support to these communities and their hardworking, devoted staff just as Newsday’s August 9 editorial (“Rising heat on nursing homes) recommends for nursing homes. Here is what the state can do to help assisted-living communities:

Prioritize assisted-living communities for distribution of PPE: The state needs to acquire a stockpile of PPE supplies in advance of a possible resurgence — and needs to make assisted-living communities a priority for distribution. This past spring, assisted-living providers spent weeks pleading for scarce PPE supplies desperately needed to keep residents and staff safe, and this equipment, combined with strong infection control and cleaning measures, is needed to minimize risk of infection within the community.

Provide adequate access to affordable testing with quick turnaround time to receive results: New York needs to provide assisted-living providers with affordable and rapid testing capacity. Assisted-living communities must test their staff and other personnel that come on premises weekly. The tests average $100 and the state has imposed all the cost on the assisted-living provider — putting some in financial distress. And, because of the [late June and July] surge in cases nationwide, the turnaround time for results has increased to a level where testing cannot provide adequate protection for residents and staff.

Change the rules for family visitation: Newsday’s editorial outlined the problem well: one positive resident or staff case shuts down the entire family visitation program down for 28 days. The Department of Health needs to revisit this policy and revise it to make it more flexible. One approach is to make the rule consistent with the current staff return-to-work policy when a positive-testing person is furloughed for 14 days and then can return to work if they test negative after the 14th day. Families and residents have been kept apart for far too long.

COVID-related policy for assisted-living communities should be driven by the operational facts related to this model of long-term care and be distinct from nursing-home requirements. ESAAL and its members stand ready to work with the NYS Department of Health to develop policy that ensures residents’ and staff’s well-being and safety as we continue to navigate through this dreadful and challenging time.

Lisa Newcomb is executive director of the Empire State Association of Assisted Living (ESAAL), representing more than 500 licensed adult-care and assisted-living providers.

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