Currently, per state and federal guidance, long-term care facilities must facilitate indoor visitation adhering to infection prevention practices if there are no new cases of COVID-19 in the facility in the last 14 days and the facility is not conducting outbreak testing. Nursing homes that are certified by CMS are required to follow applicable federal requirements and guidance on visitation as well. Given rapid declines in COVID-19 cases in facilities, many facilities meet the criteria for resuming indoor visitation. In addition, facilities can conduct compassionate care visits as needed at any time per state and federal guidance.Please review your visitation policies and communicate your policy to residents and families. CMS guidance outlining visitation requirements are here and state guidelines are here. We will continue to monitor for any updates in visitation guidance from CMS and CDC.
2. Vaccination – LTC Pharmacy
NC DHHS has enrolled Long Term Care Pharmacies as COVID-19 vaccine providers to provide ongoing COVID-19 Vaccine Services as the federal pharmacy vaccine program ends. This document (PDF) is a list of our currently active Long-Term Care Pharmacies that may be available to serve your facilities on an ongoing basis. If you have a business relationship with a Long-Term Care Pharmacy that is not on this list, please encourage them to begin the CVMS enrollment process (https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/covid-19-vaccine-management-system-cvms-steps-providers). Long-Term Care pharmacies can address any questions about CVMS enrollment to Patrick Brown (Patrick.brown@dhhs.nc.gov) and Billy Krepps (William.krepps@dhhs.nc.gov). In many cases, other vaccine providers in your area may also be able to serve your facility. To search for other COVID-19 Vaccine Providers near your facilities you can visit the NC Vaccine Site Locator at https://myspot.nc.gov/.
