WASHINGTON, D.C. - The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL), representing more than 14,000 nursing homes and assisted living communities across the country that provide care to approximately five million people each year, released the following statement today after President Trump announced $5 billion in additional Provider Relief Funds allocated for nursing homes.

The following statement is attributable to Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of AHCA/NCAL.

"We appreciate the Administration sending this much-needed funding to our nursing homes to help ensure our facilities have the personal protective equipment (PPE), access to testing and staffing needed to keep our residents and caregivers safe. This funding is an important step forward for nursing homes in our fight against this deadly virus."

"Overall nursing homes are making progress as data shows that new cases are down; however, the growing number of new COVID cases in states across the country is very concerning, which is why continued support, like the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is providing today, is vital to helping long term care facilities keep this virus out of our buildings."

"With the recent major spikes of COVID cases throughout the nation and recent independent research showing the level of COVID cases in the surrounding community serving as the top factor in outbreaks in long term care facilities, conducting more testing with reliable and rapid results is paramount. We are hopeful that the announcement today will help accelerate the rollout of improved testing, and that the Administration will continue to support long term care providers in carrying out this endeavor."

"While this funding is a significant step forward, it is equally important for Congress to provide an additional $100 billion for the HHS Provider Relief Fund, which is accessible to all health care providers impacted by COVID-19, and that a sizeable portion of the fund be dedicated to helping both nursing homes and assisted living communities to cover the enormous costs associated with protecting vulnerable residents and staff from the virus."