Perhaps you’ve heard about the lawsuit brought by several media outlets urging the court to force the ADHS to release data that they are receiving under the enhanced surveillance advisory for nursing homes and assisted living centers.
Here’s a link to the Agency’s response to court telling them that they should’t have to disclosure of the number of cases of COVID in the facility or even information about the quantity of PPE available and used by the facilities.
The primary arguments used by the agency include that disclosing PPE availability and use and facility specific case data would
“… be financially detrimental to the facility”; and “… have deleterious effects in the community’s trust that the Department can prevent infectious disease”.
You can read their full argument here.
It’s easy to see why organizations like AARP Arizona and many Arizonans are interested in being able to see that information. After all, the majority of deaths that have occurred have been in assisted living and skilled nursing facilities.
In addition, Arizona remains dead last in testing and has been prioritizing drive through Saturday testing events over more refined and targeted testing among residents and staff in congregate settings where the majority of deaths have been occurring.
Hopefully we’ll soon see what Arizona law really says about disclosing information about PPE and case counts in these settings and how much discretion the ADHS Director really has in making that decision.
Note: HHS is distributing $4.9 billion in relief funds to skilled nursing facilities to help them combat the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding will be used to support nursing homes suffering from significant expenses or lost revenue attributable to COVID-19.