For the first time, California Department of Health officials have detailed the names of nursing homes across the state with COVID-19 outbreaks and the number of cases at each facility.
Among the hardest hit facilities are the Brier Oak on Sunset nursing home in Los Angeles, where 80 residents and 62 staff members have tested positive, according to state’s list. The Country Villa South Convalescent Center in Palms has had 58 patients and 15 staff test positive, and the Garden Crest Rehabilitation Center in Silver Lake has had 35 patients and 35 staff test positive.
Nursing homes have become a tragic focal point of the coronavirus pandemic, with their elderly residents, many of whom have underlying health conditions, accounting for a large percentage of COVID-19 deaths across the country. More than 30% of those who have died in Los Angeles County were residents of long-term care facilities; more than 70% of the deaths in Long Beach have been nursing home residents.
The California Health Department list names 261 skilled-nursing facilities across the state with more than 3,000 positive cases among residents and staff. The health department website said the list was a snapshot representing the 86% of the state’s 1,224 skilled-nursing facilities that have reported data within the last 24 hours.
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But in at least one case, the state numbers appear to be out of date. At the Redwood Springs Health Care Center in Tulare County, site of one of the most devastating outbreaks in the state, the most recent figures obtained by the Los Angeles Times found that 106 residents and 50 employees had tested positive for the virus as of Thursday. The state lists 91 residents and 46 staff members. A spokesman for the facility also reported that 10 residents have died after testing positive. The state data does not include deaths.
The toll on nursing homes has led to a crisis of staffing. In some places, including Redwood Springs, so many workers are ill that replacements have been brought in. An official at the facility said that at least 18 workers were staying in a hotel paid for by the facility so that they didn’t infect family members, but staff that was previously exposed is largely quarantining at-home.
In other places, staff has refused to work after outbreaks, prompting the evacuation of at least one nursing home in Riverside County. Gustavo Urrea, whose 20-year-old niece Valeria Viveros worked the night shift at an assisted living facility there and died last week after contracting the virus, said he believes not enough is being done to protect nursing home and assisted-living workers.
He said Viveros was sent home after developing what she thought was a cold. But days later, she developed breathing problems and was taken to the emergency room. She died without her mother being able to see her, said Urrea, and now the family is concerned that others in the household may be infected.
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“Those are the people they have to protect first, those are the people they have to test first,” said Urrea of nursing home workers. “She was very lovely. She used to be very caring with her mom and that’s what hurts me the most.”
