More than 60 percent of Pennsylvania’s coronavirus deaths have been in patients at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.

And long-term care providers say they aren’t getting enough funding and supplies from the state in order to protect their residents.

“The latest numbers show 62 percent of all COVID-19 deaths are in nursing homes, yet providers feel they’re receiving zero percent of the support from state government. Shouldn’t we be focusing our relief efforts at the front lines?” said Zach Shamberg, Pennsylvania Health Care Association president and CEO.

Recognizing the need to support the state’s nursing homes, state Sen. John Yudichak, I-Luzerne/Carbon, announced on Wednesday a new partnership aimed at providing financial and political support for nursing homes dealing with COVID-19.

The mission of the Northeast Pennsylvania Nursing Home SOS Program is to provide resources for area nursing homes, and urge the Pennsylvania Department of Health to provide more funding and supplies to the state’s nursing homes.

“Pennsylvania nursing homes are the epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis, but there is no statewide response plan in place to help vulnerable nursing home residents who now represent more than 60% of COVID-19 deaths in the commonwealth,” Yudichak said.

The partnership is starting out with a $250,000 donation from Luzerne County’s Earth Conservancy, a nonprofit which reclaims abandoned mine land. The AllOne Foundation has agreed to match with an additional $250,000.

The COVID-19 virus is particularly deadly in elderly patients, and the close living conditions of nursing homes makes it easier to spread.

Earth Conservancy President and CEO Terrence J. Ostrowski said his organization’s mission includes promoting the health and welfare of the area’s residents.

“This is a great time of need, and the aid supplied to the local nursing homes will ensure that necessary equipment and services available to both staff and residents, allowing them to address the current crisis and minimize the risk of future outbreaks,” Ostrowski said.

In addition to the two donors, the partnership will include representatives from long-term care providers, PHCA, and LeadingAge PA, which represents nonprofit senior service providers around the state.

According to state statistics, 79 percent of Carbon County’s coronavirus deaths have occurred in long-term living facilities like nursing homes. In Luzerne County, it’s 65 percent.

Yudichak said it’s possible that the number of nursing home residents with COVID-19 is being underreported statewide. The Department of Health is discouraging testing of those residents, telling providers to assume that all of their residents have it, he said. Meanwhile, other states like West Virginia have mandated testing in all nursing homes.

“That is not a good response. We need to do better for our nursing home residents who are the most vulnerable citizens in this pandemic,” Yudichak said.

The partnership plans to assist nursing homes in the area by purchasing the supplies which are recommended under federal guidelines: including masks, gowns, hand sanitizer and disinfectant spray.

On the advocacy side, the partnership hopes to push the Department of Health to come up with a statewide response plan for nursing homes. Yudichak said the $50 million appropriated by state lawmakers to fight COVID-19 went primarily to hospitals, and little to nursing homes. He said the state has been more aggressive in protecting inmates than nursing home residents.

At the beginning of the crisis, PHCA, LeadingAge PA and the union representing nursing home workers asked the state for an additional $290 million - the amount they calculated it would take for the state’s nursing homes to respond adequately to COVID-19.

“To this date we have no response from the governor at all,” said Adam Marles, LeadingAge PA, President & CEO.

Yudichak recalled that the first deaths from the virus in the U.S. occurred in a nursing home in Washington state. He said that should have been a lesson to governments across the country that nursing homes would be crucial to fighting the epidemic.

“The numbers do not lie. We have a crisis. The nursing homes are the front lines in this pandemic. We need the Secretary of the Department of Health, we need the administration to step up and have a plan for our nursing homes,” he said.