With the end of August just a week away, pandemic infections and deaths continue to climb in St. Joseph County, while Three Rivers saw a hotspot occur at a local healthcare facility in late July and early August. As of today, the death count stands at 11, up by two from a Watershed Voice report just less than two weeks ago, as shown by Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency (BHSJ) online statistics.
Although BHSJ does not report specific identifying information to protect patient privacy, two of those 11 deaths occurred at Heartland Health Care Center. Julie Beckert, Assistant Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Heartland’s parent company, confirmed in a statement, “the center had 25 patients test positive for COVID-19.”
“Unfortunately, two passed away from COVID related health issues, while 23 recovered.” According to Beckert, 15 employees also tested positive, and have since recovered after quarantining themselves. The facility currently has no in-house cases.
Beckert said the facility began adopting precautionary measures early in the pandemic. “When we first realized that the novel Coronavirus reached the United States earlier this year, we began putting precautions in place such as checking and monitor for symptoms of the novel Coronavirus for all visitors, patients and employees,” she said. “Then on March 14, we added more precautions such as eliminating group activities and most visitors except for end of life reasons. We also implemented universal masking of our employees.”
Since then, the facility has adopted further precautions, including restricting new admissions, taking regular symptom and temperature checks among residents, increased cleaning and sanitizing, educating staff on proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE), and other measures. Since March, Beckert said, staff have worn “masks and goggles for all care, and additional PPE when caring for COVID-19-positive patients.”
Beckert said, “Our employees are working extremely hard and in a challenging environment. They have had to think outside the box to keep families and patients informed and connected, change how we serve meals, deliver therapy and present activities while maintaining social distancing, hygiene practices and wearing PPE. They are true health care heroes and deserve to be recognized as such.”
The facility has adopted plans for creating an isolation area for its higher-risk patients, with its own, dedicated PPE for patients, special cleaning and sanitation measures, and as much desiccated staff as possible in additional PPE that includes respiratory masks, gowns, face shields or goggles, and gloves.
Beckert said, “We are doing everything we can to minimize risks associated with the novel Coronavirus in our facility. We are in very close communication with our medical director, clinical support team, and local and state health officials about the appropriate steps to serve the best interests of our patients, employees and visitors. We are instructing our staff and patients to follow the recommended preventative actions.”
The facility is also providing regular, discreet communication and updates to patients and their families, including information about possible exposures, Beckert said. “We communicate directly with employees, patients and their families if they are affected or if there is a risk of exposure in our facility. This information is constantly changing and for us to report that information publicly may just add concern and fear rather than allay it. We are happy to address any concerns or questions employees, patients and families have directly with them,” she said.
BHSJ provided assistance and guidance to Heartland during the outbreak, as well as in its precautionary planning. “We appreciate the Department of Health’s support in identifying and addressing this issue as well,” Beckert said. “We continue to take every precaution to prevent the spread of the infection and keep families informed.”
The hotspot at Heartland underscores the risk that can be associated with the close contact that occurs at various kinds of workplaces and care facilities. BHSJ Health Officer Rebecca Burns confirmed that BHSJ was aware of the outbreak and in regular communication with Heartland. She said that skilled nursing facilities like Heartland had a mandate in place already for testing staff, which also required them to test patients in the event a positive case emerged among staff.
In previous conversations with Watershed Voice, Burns emphasized the risk of spread among asymptomatic people who do not know they are carrying COVID-19. Infection rates have been climbing on a fairly steady trend since the first local cases were reported in late March.
As of yesterday, August 23, BHSJ reported a total of 576 cases to date, meaning that among a population of 60,897 people, one out of every 106 people have tested positive so far. Burns said she expects to discover more cases as testing becomes more readily available and widespread.
Dave Vago is a writer and columnist for Watershed Voice. A Philadelphia native with roots in Three Rivers, Vago is a planning consultant to history and community development organizations and is the former Executive Director of the Three Rivers DDA/Main Street program.
