Italy: COVID-19 threatens to push aged care homes out of business as providers blocked from new admissions
“In October, unless something happens that allows us to fill empty beds, and unless we get some help with the extraordinary costs we have taken, we’ll have to file for bankruptcy,” Walter Montini, head of an association for 30 care homes in...
After at least 1,400-plus coronavirus deaths in its aged care homes, now comes the fall out for Italy. Providers say they will be forced out of business because of escalating costs from the pandemic and bans on new admissions in the worst-hit regions – potentially putting thousands of residents out on the street – without government intervention.
“In October, unless something happens that allows us to fill empty beds, and unless we get some help with the extraordinary costs we have taken, we’ll have to file for bankruptcy,” Walter Montini, head of an association for 30 care homes in the region around Cremona, told Reuters. “Instead of taking on new residents, we’ll have to send people home to their families.”
Many Italian aged care homes were forced to take in patients with COVID-19 to relieve pressure on the country’s strained hospital system, despite a lack of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Talks are now underway to allow homes to take in new residents, but industry peaks say there needs to be more widespread testing, increases staffing levels and adequate PPE to ensure there are no increases in cases.
“This will cost more and so there will have to be adequate funding,” Franco Massi, chairman of Uneba, a national association representing around 1,000 homes, said.
