The COVID-19 Pandemic Has Taken a Higher Toll on Nursing Homes with Relatively High Shares of Black or Hispanic Residents

Nursing homes with a relatively high share of Black or Hispanic residents are more likely to have had a resident die of COVID-19 than homes with lower shares of such residents, finds a new KFF analysis.

Nationwide, 63 percent of nursing homes with a relatively high share of Black residents reported one or more COVID-19 death, as did 55 percent of nursing homes with a relatively high share of Hispanic residents, finds the analysis. That compared to 40 percent and 44 percent of nursing homes with a lower share of Black and Hispanic residents, respectively. (Nursing homes were defined as having a relatively high share of Black or Hispanic residents if such residents accounted for 20 percent or more of the resident population.)

The analysis, based on data from 13,982 nursing facilities nationwide, or approximately 93 percent of all nursing facilities, adds to the understanding of how a pandemic that has hit communities of color disproportionately hard is playing out in long-term care facilities that are home to many of those most vulnerable to the effects of the virus. Long-term care facilities account for just 8 percent of all coronavirus cases but more than 40 percent of all COVID-19 deaths.

For the full analysis, which includes state-level data for 21 states, visit kff.org