State-specific Resources

Updated July 2022

The Pennsylvania Department of Health is offering additional COVID-19 resources for LTC facilities including

Facilities should aim to procure resources independently through the commercial market as part of their sustainable outbreak operations. When barriers or limitations exist, testing support, PPE, and staff augmentation remain available. Requests can be made through the following links:

• PA DOH COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Test Order Request Form
• Testing Needs Assessment Form
• PPE Critical Needs Assessment Form
• Pennsylvania Long-Term Care Task Force Staffing Support Request

In addition to the services outlined above, the Department of Health is operationalizing a capability to provide access to COVID-19 therapeutics to residents of Long-term Care Facilities. With the recent approval of oral antiviral medications for COVID-19, DOH is holding product in strategic reserve at a DOH warehouse specifically intended to be used by residents of LTC facilities and other congregate care settings. Upon receipt of a request for mediation, DOH will ship product same day or next day to the LTC facility. Due to the nature of medications, product is only appropriate for residents within five days of symptom onset. Request oral antiviral medications from DOH.

For questions regarding the COVID vaccine for your facility, visit the COVID-19 Vaccine Data and Strategy for Long-Term Care Facilities. To be matched with a vaccine partner, complete the PA Long-Term Care Facility State COVID-19 Vaccination Partnership, or email to ra- dhcovidvax@pa.gov.

The below resources are being made available to the LTC RISE Teams by the Department’s Infection Control and Outbreak Response (ICOR) team. This list does not include resources routinely provided such as PA HANs, CMS memos, ICOR-related presentations at healthcare coalition calls, etc. as that information is provided through other mechanisms.

Newly Added Resources

Monkeypox Resources

• Monkeypox Testing: PA HAN 647
• Monkeypox Collection Guidance

COVID-19 Resources

• PA DOH COVID-19 Therapeutics Update for HCCs
• COVID-19 Outpatient Therapeutics (Federal)
• COVID-19 Outpatient Therapeutics for Long-Term Care Facilities (LTCFs) in PA
• COVID-19 Information for Nursing Homes
• COVID-19 ICAR
• IPC Recommendations for Nursing Homes
• COVID-19 Testing: What You Need to Know
• AHRQ Personal Protective Equipment COVID-19 Observational Audit Data Tracking Tool for Use in Skilled Nursing Facilities
• PPE Burn Rate calculator
• PPE Optimization
• COVID-19 Information for Specific Groups of People | CDC
• What You Can Do if You are at Higher Risk of Severe Illness from COVID-19
• COVID-19: Caring for People with Developmental and Behavioral Disorders | CDC
• People with Disabilities | COVID-19 | CDC

General Infection Prevention and Control Resources

• COVID-19, Influenza, and Norovirus Infection Control Recommendations for LTCFs
• Infection Control Assessment and Response (ICAR) tools
• Type and Duration of Precautions Recommended for Selected Infections and Conditions

Hand Hygiene

• • Hand Hygiene in Healthcare Settings | CDC
  • Promotional Materials | Hand Hygiene | CDC

Standard Precautions

• • Standard Precautions for All Patient Care | Basics | Infection Control | CDC
  • Standard Precautions | Appendix A | Isolation Precautions | Guidelines Library | Infection Control | CDC

Transmission-based Precautions

• • Transmission-Based Precautions | Basics | Infection Control | CDC

PPE Donning and Doffing

• • PPE Donning and Doffing Sequence Poster- CDC
  • PPE Donning Sequence Video-CDC
  • PPE Doffing Sequence Video- CDC

Respiratory Etiquette/Hygiene

• • CDC Cover Your Cough Poster

Environmental Cleaning and Disinfecting

• • Cleaning and Disinfecting Your Facility- CDC
  • Environmental Cleaning Procedures | Environmental Cleaning in RLS | HAI | CDC

Environmental Ventilation

• • Ventilation in Buildings | CDC

Safe Injection Practices

• • Injection Safety | CDC

Bloodborne Pathogens

• • Bloodborne Infectious Diseases: HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C | NIOSH | CDC

Multidrug-resistant Organisms (MDROs)

• • Patient and Family Guide to MDROs- PA DOH
  • Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States- CDC

Central Line Infection Prevention

• • Central Line-associated Bl oodstream Infections: Resources for Patients and Healthcare Providers | HAI | CDC
  • Checklist for CLABSI Prevention- CDC
  • Patient FAQs on Catheter-Associated Bloodstream Infections- CDC

Urinary Catheter Infection Prevention

• • Catheter-associated Urinary Tract Infections (CAUTI) | HAI | CDC
  • Preventing CAUTI: A Patient Centered Approach- APIC

GI Illness Outbreak Response and Management

• • Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Norovirus-CDC
  • C. diff Guidelines and Prevention Resources-CDC
  • Toolkit for Control of Norovirus Outbreaks-PA DOH

Ventilator-Associated Infections and Prevention

• • Ventilator-associated Pneumonia (VAP) | HAI | CDC

Wound Care

• • Wound care observation checklist- PA DOH
  • How to Collect a Wound Culture- PA DOH

Healthcare-associated Infection Prevention Resources

• Multiple resources found here:
  • Healthcare Professionals
  • Public Health
• TRAIN PA
  • Search “DH-HAI” to find all HAI-related trainings created by DOH staff
    • https://pa.train.org/pa/login

Questions about these resources can be sent to RA-DHICOR@pa.gov. Resources are subject to change as updates become available from CDC and DOH.