CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - Front-line workers at New Hampshire nursing homes and other long-term care facilities will get extra pay and many will be tested for the coronavirus, Gov. Chris Sununu said Tuesday.
Starting this week, workers at Medicaid-funded residential facilities and social service organizations that serve Medicaid clients at home will be eligible for $300 weekly stipends. The state will cover the costs initially while seeking reimbursement from the federal government.
“This program ensures that the critical staff that supports some of New Hampshire’s most vulnerable individuals, including those with physical disabilities, developmental disabilities and older adults,” Sununu said. “New Hampshire must strengthen its commitment to this workforce during the emergency.”
About 25,000 workers statewide are eligible. And the 6,600 who work in Rockingham and Hillsborough counties also will be tested for the virus through a partnership with ConvenientMD, which will deploy mobile testing units to the facilities.
Residents of long-term care facilities make up more than half of the state’s deaths due to COVID-19. Eight have died at the Hanover Hill nursing home in Manchester, six at the Huntington at Nashua assisted-living facility and one at a group home run by the Crotched Mountain Foundation in Greenfield. At least 90 staff members have tested positive.
Brendan Williams, president of the New Hampshire Health Care Association, which represents nursing homes, called the new stipends essential. He said staff recruitment and retention already was a challenge prior to the pandemic given the gap between costs and Medicaid payments.
“It’s a labor of love for staff, because too often you can get poor caring for the poor,” he said. “Maybe this terrible calamity will refocus us so we treat this essential work as a priority worthy of living wages.”
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THE NUMBERS
As of Tuesday, 1,091 people in New Hampshire have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, and 27 have died.
For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and the infirm, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, or death.
Dr. Benjamin Chan, the state epidemiologist, said Tuesday that the daily count of hospitalized patients has been holding fairly steady over the last week, indicating hospitals have not been overwhelmed by a surge of patients.
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NEIGHBOR OUTREACH
New Hampshire isn’t joining a regional council to plan its reopening once the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, Gov. Chris Sununu said Tuesday, but he has been talking to governors of neighboring states.
Seven Northeastern states have agreed to a working group that will develop a regional blueprint. Meanwhile, Sununu said he has spoken to the governors of Maine, Vermont and Massachusetts about their own plans. He said they won’t act in lockstep but want to understand how their actions affect other states.
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AIRPORT FUNDS
New Hampshire airports will receive $15.2 million through the federal coronavirus aid package.
The state’s congressional delegation said the bulk of the money - about $12 million - will go to the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, with lower amounts for smaller airports.
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VIRTUAL FUNDRAISER
The Prouty, an annual event to raise money for cancer research, is going virtual this year due to concerns about the coronavirus.
Organizers said the Prouty will not be bringing 4,000 people together in Hanover in July for what traditionally has been a two-day event to benefit the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Norris Cotton Cancer Center. Instead, participants will be encouraged to take part between June 1 and July 11 to bike, walk, row, golf or do any other event from home or outdoors, allowing for physical distancing.
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INMATE REQUEST DENIED
A man accused of shooting a church pastor and bride during a wedding and later attacking his own lawyer won’t be released to house arrest due to coronavirus concerns.
A judge on Tuesday denied the request from Dale Holloway, who has asthma, saying there was no evidence of significant risk to the jail. He concluded that Holloway presented a danger to himself and the community.
Holloway pleaded not guilty to attempted murder, assault and other charges related to the October shooting at a Pelham church and the lawyer attack.
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