A Cambridge nursing home is among 33 homes that won a settlement from the state making it easier for them to continue housing as many as four residents in a room. The agreement came in a lawsuit from nursing homes challenging a pandemic-linked rules change limiting occupancy to two beds per room.
Research has indicated that the incidence of respiratory disease outbreaks, including Covid-19 infections, rises when the number of nursing home residents sharing a room increases. The state Department of Public Health said it adopted the rule, which was to be effective April 30, 2022, to limit the spread of infectious diseases among residents. The nursing homes made several legal arguments against the regulation, including that it took operators’ property, illegally pre-empted federal law, and exceeded the state agency’s authority.
Cambridge Rehabilitation & Nursing Center, an 83-bed home on Dana St., had previously sought an exemption from the two-bed limit. Its request was denied, it said in a filing in the suit. But the state health department didn’t enforce the deadline against any nursing homes because of an injunction while the legal process in the lawsuit continued. The two sides reached a settlement and agreed to dismiss the suit on June 2…