COVID-19 keeps spreading at Stanislaus nursing facilities. Where are the outbreaks?
Ongoing outbreaks pushed the number of COVID-19 cases among nursing home residents in Stanislaus County to new records this week.
The coronavirus has infected 1,065 skilled nursing facility residents in the county since the pandemic began, the California Department of Public Health reported Thursday.
Three skilled nursing facilities have active COVID-19 outbreaks of at least 20 cases, according to a state coronavirus dashboard. As of Thursday, 38 residents were currently positive for COVID-19 at Turlock Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, 24 were positive at Oakdale Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and 22 were positive at Hy-Lond Health Care Center of Modesto.
Local facilities sometimes report cases differently from the state, however, and how at least two local nursing homes accept COVID-19 patients can cause discrepancies. Allison Griffith, a spokesperson for Hy-Lond, said 21 COVID-positive residents were at the facility Friday. But a total of 34 residents have tested positive since the outbreak began on Nov. 14.
Of those 34 residents, Griffith said 26 had COVID-19 when they were admitted to Hy-Lond. Other facilities sent the 26 residents to Hy-Lond’s coronavirus unit, which opened when its outbreak started.
Out of the entire outbreak, Griffith said three residents have died, three are in the hospital and seven have been discharged. Five staff members have also tested positive, three of whom have recovered.
Although the cause of the outbreak has not been determined, Griffith said it most likely started with a staff member who caught the virus in the community and worked while asymptomatic or before developing symptoms. The increase in testing availability and speed over the course of the pandemic has helped nursing homes protect residents, but she said aspects of the virus are still unknown.
Sometimes nursing homes use the same safety protocols when a resident tests positive, yet Griffith said one could face a huge outbreak while another stops the spread.
“The spread is just multifactorial and there’s so many moving parts to containing an outbreak in a skilled nursing facility,” Griffith said. “Which is why it’s just vital that the staff and residents of skilled nursing facilities be put on highest priority to receive the vaccine.”
Skilled nursing facilities run COVID-19 units
Dedicated staff provide care for residents in the COVID-19 unit, which has a separate entrance from the rest of the building, Griffith said. The facility follows guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, she said, and it isn’t the only local nursing home accepting patients who tested positive.
Turlock Nursing and Rehabilitation Center also accepts COVID-19 patients, said Melanie Bravo, a regional director for facility owner Covenant Care. The Stanislaus County Health Services Agency authorized the center to run a coronavirus recovery unit with safety precautions including a floor-to-ceiling plastic barrier and units to treat the air, Bravo said.
“We opened the COVID Recovery Unit to serve our community, health care partners and, importantly, those in need of our specialized care,” Bravo said in an email to The Bee.
Turlock Nursing and Rehabilitation’s latest coronavirus outbreak began in mid-November, and Bravo said the center is currently treating 45 patients who have tested positive. The nursing home was among the first in the county to report a major outbreak in April. Since then, Bravo said 158 residents and 83 staff members have tested positive.
The center’s total reported deaths does differ from the state. As of Thursday, Bravo said 29 residents tested positive for COVID-19 at the Turlock facility and then later died. The statistic does not include patients who initially tested positive at another facility, came to the center’s coronavirus recovery unit and died after.
Meanwhile, the state reports the facility has a total of 40 resident deaths related to COVID-19. A disclaimer on the dashboard says fatality totals may not match other sources because it includes deaths that occurred in other locations after a resident was transferred.
Additional Modesto-area nursing homes report cases
Oak Valley Hospital District, which runs the Oakdale Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, declined to verify the outbreak of 24 active COVID-19 shown on the state dashboard. The first time a resident at the center tested positive for COVID-19 was in November, said David Rodrigues, Vice President of Administrative Services for the district.
“Oakdale Nursing and Rehabilitation Center reports COVID-19 cases to public health as it is required to do by law,” Rodrigues said in an email to The Bee. “We cannot get into details surrounding patient cases due to privacy laws and being a relatively small facility located in a small town.”
The center’s safety precautions include setting up isolation wings for COVID-19 patients, prohibiting visitors, routinely testing residents and staff and buying additional sanitizing machines, Rodrigues said.
Another seven facilities had between one and 10 active COVID-19 cases among its residents as of state data reported Thursday:
Crestwood Manor in Modesto, where a total of 64 residents have tested positive since tracking began
English Oaks Convalescent and Rehabilitation Hospital in Modesto, where where a total of 26 residents have tested positive
Garden City Healthcare Center in Modesto, where where 93 residents have tested positive
Main West PostAcute Care in Turlock, where where 70 residents have tested positive
Modesto Post Acute Center, where 90 residents have tested positive
North Starr PostAcute Care in Turlock, where less than 11 residents have tested positive
Windsor Post-Acute Healthcare Center in Modesto, where 131 residents have tested positive
The state does not report the exact case numbers when they stand at fewer than 11 for privacy reasons. Since the pandemic began, the deaths of 134 skilled nursing facility residents in Stanislaus County have been related to COVID-19, according to the state.
This story was originally published December 12, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
