A major nursing home operator lauded its providers’ success responding to COVID-19 even as questions about nursing home quality of care overall take center stage on the federal level.
“We realize that our calling to serve our communities’ most vulnerable, and those most vulnerable to COVID-19, puts us under a larger microscope, and we and our heroic staff have taken on that responsibility,” Mark Wortley, chief operating officer of Louisville, KY-based Signature HealthCARE, said in a statement Monday.
“While we, and the healthcare industry as a whole, are not without loss in this pandemic, our numbers tell a courageous story that is not being told by the media,” he added.
Findings published by Signature showed Monday that it recorded a 94% overall recovery rate among residents and staff diagnosed with COVID-19.
Federal data shows that, on average, Signature admitted 42 COVID-positive patients per center, while the national average of COVID-positive admissions per center sits at 27. They are figures that have led some to misconstrue quality of care levels.
The company, which operates more than 100 skilled nursing, home health, assisted living and in-home care facilities across 10 states, opened more than 70 COVID units within its facilities during the pandemic. It has seen a death rate of 12.5% per resident COVID case, which is lower than the national reported average of 16.3%.
The company’s report comes after the release of USA Today’s highly critical investigation that highlighted a five-month surge from October 2020 through February 2021, when about 71,000 nursing home residents died from COVID-19.
Signature noted that it’s spent around $80 million on COVID-related expenses from March 2020 through February 2022.
The company credited investments in its customized viral mitigation platform, infection prevention, vaccination program, and 24/7 care resource line for its pandemic success. Leaders also touted the company’s COVID data transparency with federal health officials.
“We know we are not immune to imperfection, as no human being or healthcare system is, but to focus on one healthcare sector, and to continually pummel the industry, is shameful,” Wortley said. “Our heroes deserve better.”
