As COVID-19 continues to spread across the country, those who have serious health problems or are at risk continue to search for ways to avoid coming in contact with the virus. For the over 1.3 million people currently living in nursing homes in the United States, COVID-19 is not something to take lightly. These individuals are more at risk than almost anyone else when it comes to contracting and spreading the virus. Nursing homes are not only full of at-risk individuals, but they’re crowded. Healthcare professionals are doing their best to stop the spread of the virus, but much like almost every other industry, they are struggling to contain the virus.
The disproportionate death rate to society’s most vulnerable and fragile population has put nursing homes into a precarious financial future as wrongful death lawsuits begin to mount. The liability that nursing homes carry is going to be a huge concern going forward. These professionals are doing their best to contain the spread of the virus. But it is nearly impossible with finite resources in these facilities. Previously in these assisted living facilities patients would share common areas and eating areas. Now with social distancing guidelines, limited space is becoming an issue. It would be almost impossible for these facilities to accommodate every single person.
One of the biggest liabilities for nursing homes is wrongful death lawsuits. The number of wrongful death lawsuits has climbed dramatically since the start of COVID-19. While professional liability insurance normally provides coverage for defense costs and settlements, insurance companies are currently adding COVID-19 exclusions for all new business.
Healthcare Professionals Hard at Work
Front-line health care workers at hospitals have been rightfully hailed as heroes, but don’t forget that these employees are also susceptible to burn out. While those working in senior living facilities working around the clock to manage their employees and the risk. The large death toll has translated to mean that facilities mismanaged the situation.
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