Wariness Greets Talk of Reopening Nursing Homes to Visitors

Health industry experts want more details about how nursing homes now under lockdown to outsiders will be reopened, even as Covid-19 outbreaks continue to ravage the facilities.

Reports that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is crafting guidelines and regulatory criteria that could allow nursing homes to let visitors enter the facilities have prompted concerns about putting vulnerable residents in more danger.

The nation’s 15,000-plus nursing homes have been on a virtual lockdown since March 13 when the CMS directed them to no longer admit most visitors and nonessential workers, to cancel group activities and communal dining, and to ...