Illinois launches new tool that shares vaccination data in long-term care facilities
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WICS/WRSP) — You can now check COVID-19 data in long-term care facilities at your fingertips.
The Illinois Department of Public Health launched a new online tool on Wednesday allowing people to view weekly confirmed COVID-19 cases, weekly COVID-19 deaths, and vaccination rates for both residents and staff in long-term care facilities.
Data is currently available for over 300 long-term care facilities across the state.
Local assisted living providers including Christian Horizons say the tool will be useful for the community.
Officials from Christian Horizons sent the statement below:
We believe it can be helpful for the general community by providing a transparent, frequently updated tool to provide COVID-related information. With the increase in county positivity rates, transmission is more likely in all congregate settings. We encourage consumers to use this as a basis for asking questions and learning the in-depth measures that all nursing centers are taking to keep the residents, employees, and visitors safe. As an example, several months ago Christian Horizons informed employees that receiving a COVID and flu vaccine will be a condition of employment by November 15th. More and more organizations are now taking this approach which will lead to higher vaccination rates. Consumers and regulators will be able to better see that with this tool. We will be able to keep a pulse on the vaccination rates of the provider community and use this to inform consumers of our ongoing efforts to advocate for vaccines to be taken by residents, associates, family members, and the general community.
Long-term care facilities are not required to report vaccination data to IDPH but the data comes from the nursing home COVID-19 public file, which is information reported by nursing homes to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Officials from IDPH say that information will be updated on a weekly basis so if people are looking for the most up-to-date data they will need to contact long-term care facilities directly or local health departments.
To view the new tool, click here.
