Bridget Parkhill, right, talks on the phone as she visits with her mother, Susan Hailey, center, who has tested positive for the new coronavirus, Thursday, April 2, 2020, at the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Wash. Federal authorities on Wednesday, April 1, 2020, proposed a fine of more than $600,000 for the Seattle-area nursing home connected to at least 40 deaths from the new coronavirus. State regulators and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services conducted an inspection of the facility on March 16, 2020, and found serious infractions that they said placed residents in immediate danger, but a follow-up inspection found that Life Care had at least partially fixed the most serious problems, and Wednesday's announcement said the fine could be adjusted up or down based on how Life Care continues to correct the remaining problems.
UPMC and state give conflicting social distancing advice opn Mother’s Day visits
“The safest thing you can do for yourself, the safest thing you can do for your mother and your family and your community is to do that visit virtually."
Sarah Boden covers health, science and technology for 90.5 WESA. Before coming to Pittsburgh in November 2017, she was a reporter for Iowa Public Radio where she covered a range of issues, including the 2016 Iowa Caucuses.
Sarah’s reporting has appeared on NPR’s Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Weekend Edition Saturday and WBUR's Here and Now. She has won multiple awards, including a regional Edward R. Murrow for her story on a legal challenge to Iowa's felon voting ban.
Ted S. Warren / AP Photo
Bridget Parkhill, right, talks on the phone as she visits with her mother, Susan Hailey, center, who has tested positive for the new coronavirus, Thursday, April 2, 2020, at the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Wash. Federal authorities on Wednesday, April 1, 2020, proposed a fine of more than $600,000 for the Seattle-area nursing home connected to at least 40 deaths from the new coronavirus. State regulators and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services conducted an inspection of the facility on March 16, 2020, and found serious infractions that they said placed residents in immediate danger, but a follow-up inspection found that Life Care had at least partially fixed the most serious problems, and Wednesday's announcement said the fine could be adjusted up or down based on how Life Care continues to correct the remaining problems.
With our coronavirus coverage, our goal is to equip you with the information you need. Rather than chase every update, we’ll try to keep things in context and focus on helping you make decisions. See all of our stories here.
(Pittsburgh) — Should you visit your mom this Mother’s Day? A doctor from Pennsylvania’s largest medical system says yes, while the Pennsylvania Department of Health seems to disagree.
On Thursday, UPMC’s Dr. Donald Yealy said people should be able to safely meet with their moms on Sunday.
“Having a visit with your mother, in a small group, with appropriate distancing and all the usual hygiene precautions makes a lot of sense,” he said.
The state Department of Health has repeatedly told Pennsylvanians that under a stay-at-home order people should only leave home for life sustaining activities. When asked by reporters about this apartment contradiction, Yealy said he didn’t think his advice went against the state’s directive.
“Visiting another adult who is not in a nursing home facility, is not immuno-compromised or frail, and having contact at a distance, for a short period of time without a congregation, is actually not outside any state guidelines,” he said.
Later on Thursday, state Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine was asked her thoughts on Mother’s Day visits. She said people under stay-at-home orders should not venture out.
“The safest thing you can do for yourself, the safest thing you can do for your mother and your family and your community is to do that visit virtually,” she said.
On Friday the stay-at-home order expires in 24 counties in north central and northwestern Pennsylvania. Levine said people in these counties could visit with family on Sunday.
She did not address whether it was all right to meet outdoors at a distance, but has discouraged unnecessary travel since it could lead to stops at gas stations and public restrooms.
Both Yealy and Levine agree that people should not visit nursing homes, as those facilities have a large number of medically frail and elderly residents. But UPMC senior living facilities are arranging parking lot meetings on Sunday, so people can visit with their families at a distance.
This is not the first time UPMC has defied the state Department of Health during the pandemic. The medical system continued to perform elective surgeries after the state directed hospitals to stop these procedures in preparation for a possible surge of COVID-19 patients.
UPMC did eventually cut the amount of routine care it was performing. Though it again ignored the state by deciding to ramp up operations before the state said it was appropriate to do so.
