With many COVID-19- related deaths occurring in nursing homes and long-term care facilities, the pandemic has been challenging in the post-acute care setting.

The pandemic changed expectations for post-acute care providers, requiring new technology investments for care coordination and delivery.

Social isolation and clinical safety are just two of the growing challenges hospices face as another wave of COVID-19 takes hold nationwide. As hospice leaders make changes to immediately address these difficulties, some are realizing those changes will become part of their long-term strategy.

Fueled by the pandemic, post-acute care facilities are bracing for unparalleled workforce challenges in the next 24 months, executives said during a keynote session at Becker's Post-Acute Virtual Forum Nov. 16. 

After seven weeks of steady decline, COVID-19 cases in nursing homes rose by more than 40 percent from mid-September to Oct. 25, according to data cited by Politico. 

Iowa nursing home facilities with dozens of COVID-19 cases that underwent several state infection-control inspections were cleared each time, the Des Moines Register reports. 

The federal government undertook a $116 million initiative to supply the nation's nursing homes with rapid COVID-19 tests, but citing concerns of inaccuracy and discrepancies between state and federal guidelines, industry experts say it's not what they need, reports The Wall Street Journal. 

Medicare is terminating Norton, Kan.-based Andbe Home's participation in its program as of Nov. 18 after all 62 of its residents were infected with COVID-19 and at least 10 died, reports The Kansas City Star. 

River City Care Center in San Antonio, the region's designated COVID-19 isolation facility since April, is facing a state-issued fine of at least $120,000 after an investigation from earlier this summer concluded unsafe conditions put its 50 residents at risk, reports KSAT. 

U.S. News and World Report published its 11th annual 2021 Best Nursing Home rankings Oct. 27. 

The families of 15 current and former residents at Beaver, Pa.-based Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center filed an Oct. 21 lawsuit against the nursing home, claiming it inadequately responded to a COVID-19 outbreak that's been linked to 73 deaths at the facility, reports Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

As nursing home deaths from COVID-19 in Indiana surpass 2,200, Gov. Eric Holcomb will deploy the state's National Guard members next month to help protect people in long-term care facilities and nursing homes, reports Indiana's The Times. 

All 62 residents at a Kansas nursing home contracted COVID-19, according to CBS' KOLN.

In response to an order from the Trump administration, Nevada has reversed an order blocking nursing homes from using federally provided rapid COVID-19 antigen tests, reports The Wall Street Journal. 

The deaths of two dementia patients who passed away after altercations at two Wilmington, N.C., nursing homes will be included in the city's annual homicide total, reports NBC affiliate WECT.

Nevada has suspended the use of two rapid COVID-19 tests in nursing homes after the tests repeatedly delivered  false-positives, according to an Oct. 2 directive issued by the state health department.

The divide between post-acute and acute care providers has been shrinking for years. Today, with COVID-19 pandemic exposing vulnerabilities and gaps in the healthcare continuum, the importance of finally bridging that gap has never been clearer.

At least 57 people, including 46 residents, at Colchester, Conn.-based Harrington Court Nursing have tested positive for COVID-19, reports the Hartford Courant. 

Twenty-three New York nursing homes have been fined for COVID-19 safety violations since March, according to NBC affiliate WHEC-TV.

Nursing homes with a higher proportion of minority residents reported higher numbers of new COVID-19 cases than facilities with fewer minority residents, a new study shows.