Data tracking vaccinations at Oregon long-term care facilities, Aug. 20

Oregon Health Authority is launching a data dashboard that allows the agency to continue to track vaccination rates at long-term care facilities (LTCF) licensed by the Oregon Department of Human Services’ (ODHS) Office of Aging and People with Disabilities. The data dashboard, which will go live Friday will be available on the OHA website and will be updated weekly, shows facility-level data for nursing, assisted living and residential care facilities. Adult foster homes are not included in the dashboard. “This tool is an important resource for OHA and ODHS as we analyze regional and statewide trends, and for facilities as they plan for ongoing COVID-19 vaccination needs,” said Rebecca Pierce, Ph.D., manager of the Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI) Program in the OHA Public Health Division’s Acute & Communicable Disease Prevention Section. “Sharing facility-level data is another step in our work to transparently evaluate LTCF COVID-19 vaccination progress over time,” she said.  Pierce said the dashboard will be a resource for local public health authorities as they plan vaccination events and outreach. Residents, staff and members of the public can also use it to evaluate a long-term care facility’s vaccination status. The dashboard makes it possible to monitor or research individual facilities by name. As of July 26, 88% of residents in reporting long-term care facilities have been completely vaccinated against COVID-19, meeting the OHA vaccination goal of 80% in this setting; 67% of long-term care staff have been completely vaccinated. Tremendous progress has been made by Oregon long-term care facilities in surpassing the state 80% benchmark for resident COVID-19 vaccination. Work continues to ensure facility staff vaccination also crosses that benchmark as quickly as possible. Effective June 1, long-term care facilities are required are required to report vaccination status data to the state. Previously, reporting was voluntary, which informed the current data in the dashboard. The state moved from voluntary reporting by long-term care facilities—which informed this report—to required reporting by facilities to OHA, effective June 1. A similar dashboard was published in July for health care workers and is on the OHA website. OHA and ODHS have continued to engage with facilities, labor, trade associations and long-term care pharmacies to communicate and educate facility operators to boost vaccinations among LTCF staff above the 80% goal. The agencies will continue to ensure ongoing vaccination is available to residents and the workforce serving them, both of whom have faced extreme hardship during this pandemic.