The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine for residents and staff members of nursing homes across California has commenced, but those in the Santa Clarita Valley continue to wait. There are nearly 760 settings across Los Angeles County with active coronavirus cases as of Friday, according to data from the...

My mother, in her late 90s, fell at home and broke a hip. She needed surgery, then one week of rehabilitation. This was last year when the Dodgers were again heading toward the playoffs, and she was lucky to have cable TV at home that carried the games. But not at rehab. “Where are the Dodgers on this...

I see patients in nursing homes once a month. Most elderly residents are relegated to these facilities because debilitating health problems prevent them from living at home. Around the country, they have become “hotspots” of infection. County Public Health maintains real-time statistics that are...

Visitation is highly restricted for nursing homes, as they are hotspots of life and death. If your loved one uses a smart phone, family communication is maintained. For those with less technical skills, many nursing homes now compassionately lend residents cell phones for usage. One of my patients was...

As a geriatric physician, I have visited nursing homes for over 30 years. COVID-19 is a highly contagious virus that is inflicting havoc and death over senior healthcare facilities. Statistics reveal nursing homes are “hotspots” for large clusters of coronavirus, but as a doctor, I am not surprised...

Have you ever had a friend or loved one say, “Gee, I can’t wait to get older so I can go to a nursing home?” Skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), rebranded “nursing homes,” will never escape their reputation for bodily smells and agonizing sounds of aging. The escalation of hospital and insurance...

Every morning I check my temperature, blood pressure and oxygen level. A pulse oximeter measures this from the fingertip. Typically, it is 95% (normal is above 90%). After a few deep breaths, it goes up to 99%. Expanding the lungs after being in bed all night gets more oxygen into the body. Simple. Getting...

SACRAMENTO — With parts of the economy scheduled for a soft reopening later this week, California Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday scolded businesses that opened early and warned they could ultimately jeopardize the state’s coronavirus fight. In many parts of the state where confirmed cases have...

The coronavirus is running rampant through senior residential facilities, especially nursing homes. One source: Hospitals. Ten years ago, as the conveyor belt of medicine geared up, profiteering hospitals learned to discharge patients as rapidly as possible. Some patients went home, but to expedite the...