Alison Biggar

From day one, COVID-19 has taken swipes at older people and the providers who serve them. But age offers perspective, and the people who choose to care for older people have proven to be more than just kind, resilient and nimble, they’ve also shown themselves to be reflective and willing to grow from this cataclysmic experience. We’ve learned a lot about the science and spread of infection, and about preventing it.

For example, what does a facility do when their attending physicians get sick, fail to make the rounds on their COVID-19 positive patients or are unable to accommodate their patient’s acute medical needs? Who does the executive director in the AL turn to for help with the multitude of policy decisions around infection control, therapeutic standards for COVID-19–infected patients or transfers to and from the hospital?

The COVID-19 pandemic poses challenges for nearly all communities across the country. Yet older people of color face even greater burdens with mounting disparities that must be identified and resolved. As COVID-19 continues to ravage communities of color, data show shocking disparities in outcome based on race and ethnicity. Recent data show significantly higher COVID-19 hospitalizations for Black, Latinx, and American Indian/Alaska Native Medicare beneficiaries.