A grand jury indicted the former administrator of Mount Lebanon (Pa.) Rehabilitation and Wellness Center Feb. 24 on charges of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government, healthcare fraud and obstruction of a federal audit.

A registered nurse is facing charges alleging neglect and abuse of a 69-year-old female resident, according to a Feb. 17 news release from California Attorney General Xavier Becerra.

Four residents and five staff members from Iowa Park (Texas) Healthcare Center nursing home were hospitalized after a fire reportedly started in the facility's attic Feb. 16, according to an update posted on the facility's social media.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Feb. 15 that his administration's lack of transparency about all COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes was a mistake, the first time the governor has publicly made such a statement, reports The New York Times.

COVID-19 deaths at nursing homes where more than 40 percent of residents were Black or Hispanic were about 3.3 times higher than those in nursing homes with the highest proportions of white residents, according to a study published Feb. 10 in JAMA Network Open.

Members of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania are urging Gov. Tom Wolf and the state's health department to back a list of changes aimed at improving both resident care and staff support. The union said the state hasn't updated nursing home regulations since the 1990s, the Pittsburgh Business Times reported Feb. 8.

About 20 percent of all nursing homes in the U.S. faced staffing shortages in December, which likely contributed to COVID-19 outbreaks at facilities, CBS News reported Feb. 1. 

The New York State Department of Health undercounted the number of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes by as much as 50 percent, according to a Jan. 28 report from state Attorney General Letitia James.

Two former employees at Sarasota (Fla.) Health and Rehabilitation Center said they were fired after raising concerns to management about COVID-19 safety measures, local NBC affiliate WFLA reported Jan. 27. 

Bentonview Park Health and Rehab, a nursing home in Monett, Mo., was evacuated Jan. 22 after construction crews exposed asbestos, local NBC affiliate KSN reports. 

Maryland Baptist Aged Home in Baltimore hasn't reported a single case of COVID-19, a rare instance as more than 1 million cases have been reported across the country's long-term care facilities, CBS News reports. 

A Chicago nursing home inspector didn't show up to facilities for at least a year and falsified dozens of inspection reports, Block Club Chicago reported Jan. 19. 

For the second consecutive week, long-term care facilities reported the highest virus death toll since The COVID Tracking Project began collecting data last May, with more than 7,000 resident and staff deaths.

A staff member at Janesville, Wis.-based Rock Haven nursing home said nearly a dozen employees quit after the facility mandated the COVID-19 vaccine, local CBS affiliate WISCTV reported Jan. 20. 

Genesis HealthCare, a nursing home chain with more than 300 facilities, paid its CEO, George Hager Jr., a $5.2 million "retention payment" in late October amid rising COVID-19 cases across company facilities, The Washington Post reported Jan. 20. 

COVID-19 deaths in Wisconsin nursing homes have increased significantly over the last two months, according to AARP data cited by WAOW.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has hit the long-term care industry particularly hard, with nursing home residents accounting for nearly 40 percent of virus related deaths in the U.S., the AARP staff recently spoke with experts to identify strategies that could ease the burden on the industry and improve resident care. 

Webster at Rye (N.H.) nursing home included facility board members, who have no direct contact with residents, on its list of staff members eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, New Hampshire Public Radio reported Jan. 12. 

The U.S. needs to reform its elder care system so seniors have more options and nursing homes achieve higher levels of quality and safety, writes CMS Administrator Seema Verma.

Two lawsuits were filed last month against the Windermere Health and Rehabilitation Center in Augusta, Ga., according to a Jan. 7 report from The Augusta Chronicle. Both lawsuits involve a resident death after allegations of poor care.