Clearwater nursing home has 42 COVID-19 cases, 2 deaths as coronavirus testing continues
A Wichita-area nursing home with an outbreak of the novel coronavirus now has 42 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and two deaths as testing continues.
The Clearwater Nursing and Rehabilitation Center coronavirus cluster had 29 additional residents test positive as of Monday, the Sedgwick County Health Department said in a news release.
All 53 residents of the nursing home have been tested for COVID-19, though not all test results have been returned. An undisclosed number of staff who have worked at the facility members have also tested positive and some have quit.
Sedgwick County Commissioner Michael O’Donnell said Monday that he has been in contact with a relative of one of the victims in the nursing home cluster of cases.
He said the deceased was a woman in her early 60s who was living in the facility full-time, primarily due to a chronic health condition.
“I think (the relative) had seen people on my Facebook posts saying it’s a hoax, and was just like ‘I want you to let people know it’s real. People are dying of this. You (the public) need to take it seriously,’” said O’Donnell, Clearwater’s representative on the County Commission and the Board of Health.
The nursing home is 16 miles southwest of Wichita in Clearwater.
“The safety and well-being of residents and staff is a top priority,” Willie Novotny, the nursing home owner, said in a statement. “Right now, we are able to care for our residents on site and will only need to transport them to a local hospital if symptoms worsen. We look forward to return seven residents back to our facility by this Wednesday.”
On the day the first death occurred at the nursing home, a second patient also was set for transport to the hospital with similar respiratory-distress symptoms.
Both patients died in ambulances on the way to the hospital, but only one was classified as a COVID-19 death because the other’s test came back negative.
Staff should be tested?
The daughter of a 92-year-old woman who lives at the Clearwater nursing home — and tested positive — is demanding all of the staff at the facility be tested for the coronavirus after the facility’s owner said staff will only be tested if they have symptoms.
Dee Hirsch, whose mother lives at Clearwater Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, said the center, like other nursing homes around the country, is endangering residents by allowing untested staff members to be around vulnerable populations.
“It has been closed to visitors over a month,” Hirsch said. “The only people coming and going are staff. When you know that, and still don’t see that all staff are being tested, then you know things are slipping through the cracks.”
Hirsch, who lives in the Seattle area, said she has called the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and Gov. Laura Kelly’s office asking for the staff to be tested.
“Today, I got through to someone at the governor’s office and they said they will get back to me,” she said.
She said she understands that testing materials are in short supply. But what is available should be used to protect the most vulnerable populations first.
“Being in Seattle, I’ve seen this happen here,” she said. “I saw how quickly Kirkland Life Care Center realized it had staff that was going to other centers, and then it wasn’t long until nine other residents had positive cases. And there weren’t visitors anymore, it was all just staff coming and going.”
Hirsch’s mother is asymptomatic and remains at the nursing home, she said.
Novotny said in a Saturday news release that the nursing home does not have the ability to get tests for staff, which must be ordered by a doctor or the health department.
“We have had some staff quit out of an abundance of caution, or fear,” Novotny said.
Other employees have been sent home due to testing positive or after to experiencing symptoms. Additional workers have been brought in from other communities and staffing agencies.
The nursing home employees are using personal protective equipment, Novotny said. They also have their temperatures taken every four hours and must complete a health screening before entering the building.
“Having everyone quarantine in their rooms takes about twice as much work and time, but we are getting the job done and I am very proud of (the employees),” he said.
The nursing home owner also said, “Public Relations is the most challenging situation we have to deal with right now.”
“One thing we were not and are not prepared for is the public demand for immediate information,” he said. “Since the news articles broke earlier this week, we have been flooded with hundreds of phone calls per day from concerned citizens, family members and news media outlets. Please bear in mind that every minute we are spending on the phone talking with an individual is one less minute we have available to take care of people in this building.”
This story was originally published April 20, 2020 at 3:33 PM.
