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In Long-Term Care, Some Good News After Painful Start To Year

Roughly three months ago, things were not looking good at most long-term care facilities. Cases were soaring, people were dying and the vaccine rollout was just getting started. Since then, a lot has changed. 

Dana Kennedy is the state director for AARP Arizona. She says progress is being made on the vaccine front. Residents are fully vaccinated and more staff are getting the shot, a problem in the early days. Family visits are also happening with few restrictions. 

There are also bills moving through the legislature that could impact older adults.

"There are bills that are moving through or through appropriations," she said. "There was a bill that was heard on increasing the dollars for ombudsman. So there would be more full-time employees for ombudsman's to be able to visit these facilities twice a year. There's also a bill moving through that also increases the amount of money for inspectors."

Something Kennedy says is hugely important especially when it comes to issues of infection control. 

KJZZ senior field correspondent Kathy Ritchie has 20 years of experience reporting and writing stories for national and local media outlets — nearly a decade of it has been spent in public media.