Two local nursing homes that had managed to keep COVID-19 at bay during an initial round of outbreaks in the spring are battling new outbreaks this month.
A COVID-19 outbreak began last week at Franklin Meadows and escalated quickly to 33 cases, according to data from the facility’s parent company American Senior Communities.
Patricia Gardner, a former resident, left Friday after cases began to climb and her quality of life at the facility began to decline as a result, she said. Two cases were discovered Oct. 21, and increased to 11 by the time she checked out just two days later, Gardner said.
Cases at Greenwood Village South began to pick up around Oct. 7, when 10 residents and five staff members tested positive, according to data from that facility. As of Tuesday, there had been 85 cases among residents and 44 among staff members, data shows.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
The first positive case at Greenwood Village South was a staff member in May, but cases did not increase much until earlier this month, said Jordan Morrow, executive director. With widespread testing now underway, many of the positive cases were found in asymptomatic residents and residents with non-respiratory symptoms, he said.
“The majority of our residents and employees who tested positive are asymptomatic. Those who do have symptoms are experiencing more gastrointestinal discomfort rather than the severe respiratory challenges that were first associated with COVID-19 several months ago,” Morrow said. “Our focus at Greenwood Village South is on coordinating care for our residents and keeping their families updated during this difficult time.”
As positive cases continue to rise across all age groups in Johnson County, they were bound to increase again at long-term care facilities, said Betsy Swearingen, Johnson County Health Department director.
“It is easy for that to happen because we are in community spread. If you’re not quarantining every day, it is easy to catch the coronavirus,” Swearingen said.
In Johnson County, 46 newly reported cases were added Wednesday, according to the Indiana State Department of Health. The county’s 7-day positivity rate dipped slightly to 10.1%, a decrease of three points from the rolling average earlier in the week, according to state health department data.
The county health department is helping and advising local long-term care facilities if asked, Swearingen said. The department advised Greenwood Village South on infection control practices, and as a result, its positive cases have slowed in recent days, Morrow said.
The virus got into both facilities despite their best efforts to keep it out, officials for both said. The nursing homes continue to follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Morrow and Sherri Davies, a spokesperson for American Senior Communities.
At Greenwood Village South, the virus appears to have spread from an asymptomatic staff member, Morrow said. Davies would not say how the virus got inside Franklin Meadows.
Both facilities are restricting visitors again, while others continue to allow visitors inside despite the dangers associated with the virus in individuals aged 60 and older. Greenwood Village South and Franklin Meadows are only allowing visitors in compassionate care circumstances, including end of life situations, grieving residents, residents who will not eat or drink without family assistance, and residents who are in physical or emotional distress.
State health department guidance lists community spread with a positivity rate of greater than 10% or new COVID-19 cases within the facility spread as reasons to begin restricting visitors again. However, the state has decided to leave that decision to individual facilities, according to state documents.
At a Wednesday news conference, Dr. Kristina Box, state health commissioner, said closing facilities to visitors again is not necessary because she is not aware of any evidence that new COVID-19 infections were brought into the facilities that way. Instead, most new outbreaks develop from positive staff members.
Swearingen echoed that it is unnecessary for long-term care facilities to restrict visitors again — barring an outbreak — but she warned individuals visiting the facilities to be mindful of their potential exposure.
“I’m not recommending that they don’t (offer visits), but if you are visiting a family member in a long-term care facility you should be extremely careful about where you have been and who you have been with,” Swearingen said. “You should be aware of the potential of infecting them.”
State health officials are focusing on steps that will support those aged 60 and older, who are most vulnerable to the virus, and they’re warning younger people follow coronavirus-related precautions to avoid spreading the virus to older relatives, Box said.
The most recent guidance for long-term care facilities, issued Sept. 17, says facilities must offer outdoor visitation as long as there is not an outbreak at the facility. The state health department says in the document facilities may keep offering outdoor visitations if administrators feel it can be offered safely.
Now, the state is taking new steps to control and prevent COVID-19 in long-term care facilities, Box said. Those steps include sending Indiana National Guard members to all long-term care facilities, hiring clinical staff from a reserve workforce to supplement long-term care facilities, providing 2 million masks and other PPE, and requiring infection control training of all long-term care facilities.
Nearly 400 Indiana National Guard members will be deployed to 133 long-term care facilities starting Monday, said Dale Lyles, adjutant general of the Indiana National Guard. On Nov. 9, 750 will be deployed to 250 long-term care facilities, and by mid-November 1,350 will be deployed among all 534 long-term care facilities in the state, he said. The guard’s mission at Indiana’s long-term care facilities is expected to continue until the end of the year.
The state is targeting facilities with higher numbers of cases among residents and staff, and facilities where help has been requested, Box said. The guard’s job will be to ease staffing shortages in areas of infection control, such as screening staff members and cleaning, she said.
These steps are due to recent “troubling” increases in the state’s positivity rate and hospitalization rates, Box said. More than 100 people a day are being admitted to hospitals with COVID-19, and 70% of those hospitalized are individuals aged 60 and older, according to state data.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”By the numbers” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Here is a look at COVID-19 cases at Johnson County’s long-term care facilities:
Greenwood Village South
Resident cases: 85
Resident deaths: 7
Staff cases: 44
Latest case reported: Tuesday
Franklin Meadows
Resident cases: 33
Resident deaths: 2
Staff cases: 27
Latest case reported: Wednesday
Greenwood Healthcare Center
Resident cases: 191
Resident deaths: 36
Staff cases: 22
Latest case reported: Sept. 11
Greenwood Meadows
Resident cases: 111
Resident deaths: 31
Staff cases: 18
Latest case reported: May 20
Otterbein Franklin Senior Life
Resident cases: 60
Resident deaths: 18
Staff cases: 35
Latest case reported: Aug. 10
Hearth at Stones Crossing
Resident cases: 23
Resident deaths: 5
Staff cases: 5
Latest case reported: Sept. 28
Country Charm
Resident cases: 5
Resident deaths: Less than 5
Staff cases: Less than 5
Latest case reported: Oct. 12
Greenwood Health and Living Community
Resident cases: Less than 5
Resident deaths: Less than 5
Staff cases: 0
Latest case reported: unknown
Demaree Crossing
Resident cases: Less than 5
Resident deaths: Less than 5
Staff cases: 0
Latest case reported: unknown
Compass Park – Indiana Masonic Home
Resident cases: Less than 5
Resident deaths: Less than 5
Staff cases: Less than 5
Latest case reported: unknown
Morning Pointe of Franklin
Resident cases: Less than 5
Resident deaths: Less than 5
Staff cases: Less than 5
Latest case reported: unknown
Aspen Trace Health and Living Community
Resident cases: 0
Resident deaths: 0
Staff cases: Less than 5
Latest case reported: unknown
Homeview Center of Franklin
Resident cases: 0
Resident deaths: 0
Staff cases: Less than 5
Latest case reported: unknown
Source: Indiana State Department of Health
Note: The state health department suppressed numbers and dates of cases at facilities with fewer than five cases to protect the identities of COVID-19 positive individuals.
[sc:pullout-text-end]
