To prevent the spread of COVID-19 at long-term care facilities, the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) issued two emergency rules on Monday.
These rules require nursing homes and assisted living facilities to grant access to the Florida Department of Health or their authorized representative for the purpose of infection prevention and control, including mandated COVID-19 testing of both on-duty and off-duty staff when arranged by the Department.
“The challenge we face is mitigating and containing the spread of this deadly virus in our long-term care facilities,” said AHCA Sec. Mary Mayhew.
“To guard against the rapid spread of COVID-19, I am issuing emergency rules for our nursing homes and assisted living facilities requiring that every facility allow access to the Department of Health or their authorized representative for mandatory testing for all facility staff by the Florida Department of Health during testing visits. These rules will also require every facility to allow access to the Department of Health or their authorized representative for infection prevention and control purposes,” Mayhew added.
The Agency for Health Care Administration is committed to better health care for all Floridians. The Agency administers Florida’s Medicaid program, licenses and regulates more than 44,000 health care facilities and 53 health plans, and publishes health care data and statistics at www.FloridaHealthFinder.gov.
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