AARP Oregon Successfully Advocates for More Nursing Home COVID-19 Data Transparency

By Andrea Meyer

After months of advocacy, we are pleased to report that information on long-term care facility COVID-19 outbreaks and deaths is now easier to access and understand.  Since the onset of COVID-19, the Oregon Health Authority has published congregate care outbreak information in date order.  As the list grew, it made it impossible for consumers to easily check the status of any specific facility. 

Thanks to our advocacy, they have changed the format of the “resolved outbreak” table to alphabetical order.  That list goes back to March 2020.  Family members can now look up any congregate care facility and see the frequency of outbreak, the number of cases and the number of deaths.  Long-term care facilities are homes, for us and our loved ones.  We think this is critical information for consumers to have.  The report is updated weekly (you will need to scroll down and look for “Weekly Outbreak Report”).

Andrea is the AARP Oregon Government Relations Director