ALBANY – The State Department of Health will allow visitation of residents in nursing homes in accordance with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Centers for Disease Control guidelines.
The health department recommends that visitors take a rapid test before entry into the facility, and the agency will provide raid tests to nursing homes at no cost.
The state will provide guidelines on visitations on Monday, February 22.
Valerie Gross, whose mother is a resident at Orange County’s Valley View nursing home in Goshen, said she is “excited that visitations will resume after nearly six months. I hope all protocols are being upheld for everyone’s safety.”
Valley View Director Laurence Ladue told relatives of residents that it is anticipated that nursing homes will need to have an 80 percent vaccination rate of residents and staff before visitations can resume. “Unfortunately we are not close to 80 percent based on our poor vaccination rate among our staff,” he wrote in a memo to family members.
