The Virginia Department of Social Services’ (VDSS) Division of Licensing Programs (DOLP) was recently awarded $3.8 million in grant funding by the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) to provide essential infection prevention and control support to licensed adult care facilities. The funding will also provide necessary resources to adult care facilities and their staff to provide ongoing support in mitigating the spread of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.
Additional program outcomes of this funding will include:
- Creation of an Infection Prevention and Control Team (IPCT) in each region of the Commonwealth. The IPCT, led by licensed nurses, will conduct on-site, scheduled tours of licensed adult care facilities to observe infection control practices and provide expertise on risk reduction strategies and mitigation techniques.
- In-person and virtual training using data collected through on-site observations, reporting of infectious diseases, results of ongoing surveys, and the review of adult care facilities’ infection control plans and policies.
- Development of a new data platform to ensure tracking and communication of infectious disease threats. Data tracking will guide VDSS in the development and dissemination of educational training regarding infection control practices.
“It is imperative that the workforce caring for vulnerable adult populations are properly trained and equipped to deliver best practice-based interventions pertaining to proper infection control for their own protection and for the protection of those being served,” said VDSS Division of Licensing Programs Director Tara Ragland. “We are committed to supporting the needs of our adult program providers to help ensure the mitigation of infectious and communicable diseases. We are excited about this opportunity and pleased to have such a strong partnership with VDH who we look forward to collaborating and learning with.”
This funding is provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Prevention and Control of Emerging Infectious Diseases Cooperative Agreement. For more information, contact [email protected].
