Emergency Preparedness Resources for Home Care and Hospice Providers

Throughout the past week — a time when home care and hospice workers were included among phase 1a priority workers — HCA compiled and circulated to members a series of spreadsheets with links for accessing the COVID-19 vaccine in addition to the state and city vaccine appointment pages.

While health care workers remain a priority (including, specifically, home care and hospice), the Governor on Friday announced the expansion of vaccine priority to phase 1b, which includes certain other essential workers and individuals age 75 and older. (more…)

Yesterday, HCA shared information about vaccination sites and appointment scheduling. Several county health departments have also begun posting vaccination information. All of this is compiled in a new series of spreadsheets on our COVID-19 resource page to further assist in your effort to facilitate staff vaccinations. Please also be sure to review the state and city vaccine eligibility sites.

While not all county agencies are actively vaccinating at this time, many are doing so, and this information is constantly changing.

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HCA has some new information to support home care and hospice staff vaccinations for the week 4 prioritization schedule and ongoing vaccination effort. (more…)

Following HCA’s daily and continuous outreach to officials at all levels of the statewide vaccination effort, the state Department of Health (DOH) last night revised its guidance to move up the schedule for home care and hospice worker vaccination.

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Situation Report | January 4, 2021

On January 2, the state Department of Health (DOH) posted guidance that, for the first time, specifically identifies home care and hospice staff as a priority group to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. (more…)

HCA continues to seek clarity and advocate for prioritization of home care and hospice in the statewide vaccination roll out.

Complicating the consistency of information is the fact that statewide logistics appear to have been substantially delegated to ten regional planning hubs, also known as Regional Advisory Task Force (RATF) coalitions, led mostly by hospitals. A list of all ten hubs is provided on the Governor’s website here. (more…)

New DOH Vaccine Website: New York State has launched a new website dedicated to COVID-91 vaccine information. It includes information about the vaccine, the state’s distribution plan, safety measures, the process for providers to order the vaccine, frequently asked questions, and more. (more…)

On Friday, HCA reported to members about our meeting with New York City immunization officials who confirmed that home care and hospice workers would be included in phase one of the city’s COVID-19 vaccination rollout. (more…)

Last week, Governor Cuomo announced new metrics by which micro-cluster focus zones will be determined to help control COVID-19 spread and protect hospital capacity. (more…)

The Governor last night issued Executive Order No. 202.82 with new flexibilities related to COVID-19 and influenza testing and vaccination. (more…)