N.Y. Families Wonder When They'll Be Able To Visit Loved Ones In Long-Term Care Facilities Again
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - After months of being in crisis, some nursing homes around the Tri-State Area are getting to receive visits.
New Jersey is loosening its restrictions on visitations.
But families with loved ones in New York nursing homes will still have to wait.
Lisa Bishop has only seen her 96-year-old mother twice since March. Both times, it has been through an acrylic sheet.
Her mother, Belle, lives at the Hebrew Home at Riverdale in the Bronx, which now allows drive-thru visits. Family members can stay in their car and communicate via radio with their loved ones inside.
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It's better than nothing, but it's not the same as the real thing.
"The whole thing is extremely depressing and sad," said Lisa.
Right now, it's the only way to visit residents of New York state nursing homes and long-term care facilities.
Dave Pomeranz is the chief operating officer at the Hebrew Home a Riverdale. He is waiting for the green light to allow in-person visitations, and utilizing the facility's 32 acres on the Hudson River to bring families together, but at a safe distance.
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"It's a very powerful moment when they are reunited. We've seen a taste of it with the drive-in. But when they are reunited, and able to do it in a different way, there are no words to put to it," Pomeranz said.
New Jersey allowed nursing home visits just in time for Father's Day, such as the ones that took place at Atrium Senior Living in Park Ridge.
There's still not timeline for facilities in New York state.
Stephen Hanse is president of the New York State Health Facilities Association. He says long-term care facilities are much safer than they were a few months ago, and says it is time to open them to visitors again.
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"Not in a one-size-fits-all approach. The opening has to be unique to each facility," he said.
For Lisa Bishop, she can't wait to see her mother without a plastic sheet between them.
"Mom I miss you and love you so much," she said.
Ultimately it will be up to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state health officials to decide when to resume those in-person visitations. Today the New York State Department of Health sent CBS2's Nick Caloway a statement saying they were reviewing the data to decide the appropriate time to do so.