More than 150 assisted living communities are being called out — unfairly, they say — by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and the state’s Department of Aging, according to local media reports.
The department on Thursday released a list of facilities that they said either have not opted into the state’s vaccine program or have not confirmed how they are administering vaccines. But some operators said that those lists are inaccurate.
The Office of the Aging compiled the list of 155 assisted living communities and 52 nursing homes that the agency said have not signed up for what’s called the “Covid Maintenance Program,” designed to make sure new senior living and nursing home residents and new staff members have access to a vaccine. The agency reportedly sent the survey to operators in the state, and if a facility did not respond, then it automatically was put on the list. Yet several facilities are claiming their inclusion is a mistake.
“Since we’ve completed the survey four times, no reason we should be on any list but a good list,” John Stone, administrator of Merit House in Toledo, OH, which was included in the list, told 24 News. Stone said that residents of his facility, which offers assisted living and skilled care, are fully vaccinated after he held three CVS vaccination clinics: one each in December, January and February.
“100% of our residents have been vaccinated, and probably upwards of 60% of staff. We took a pretty aggressive stance to get everyone vaccinated and get everyone on board,” he told the news agency.
Similarly, the Cottage at Wexner Heritage Village in Columbus, OH, told WBNS News that it vaccinated 90% of its residents on Jan. 7.
“It was of course offered to everyone,” said Chris Christian, the facility’s president and CEO. “For our organization to be on the list, we knew clearly there was an error and something they got mixed up somewhere or some wires were crossed.”
Some operators said they hadn’t received the survey.
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