Nursing homes in Michigan must make "all reasonable efforts" to create units dedicated to residents with COVID-19, a new order from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer mandates.
The governor, who issued the order May 20, is also mandating that nursing homes provide appropriate personal protective equipment to employees who directly care for the residents in the dedicated COVID-19 unit. But a nursing home must only create a dedicated unit if it can implement effective and reliable infection control procedures, the order states.
The order also directs long-term care facilities to notify staff of a resident with COVID-19 no later than 12 hours after identifying the resident and to notify their local health department within 24 hours.
Data on COVID-19 in Michigan's long-term care facilities is not available. The Michigan health department's website says that data collection is undergoing a transition "to improve accuracy, timeliness and to align with new guidance from [CMS]."