Second senior care home COVID-19 cluster in Wichita area identified; two have died
Two residents of the Chisholm Place care home have died from COVID-19, according to the Sedgwick County Health Department.
It is the second senior-care facility in the county to have a coronavirus cluster, meaning two or more people have had the virus.
In a joint release with the facility, the county health department said that 36 residents and staff have tested positive for COVID-19.
Chisholm Place, 1859 N. Webb Road, offers housing and memory care, specializing in people with Alzheimer’s and dementia.
“The health and safety of our residents and team members are our highest priority. Chisholm Place put its exacting coronavirus protection protocols in place on February 26 and has consistently carried them out ever since,” says Laura Kislowski, vice president for sales and marketing. “During recent weeks, seven of our residents tested positive for COVID-19 and this past Thursday, April 23, we began testing all residents. The results have now come in and they show an additional 25 residents are positive bringing the total number of Chisholm Place residents with COVID-19 to 32.”
Staff may be tested by the health department at no cost.
“Chisholm Place continues with its total dedication to combating COVID-19. This past Sunday, April 26, the Sedgwick County Health Department and a CDC infectious disease specialist physician went to the facility at its invitation to assess protocols,” according to the news release issued Wednesday morning. “The team affirmed the soundness and quality of established protocols and supply” of personal protective equipment, the release continued.
In Wednesday’s County Commission meeting, Commissioner Lacey Cruse said she was familiar with the facility from her career in senior care before she was elected.
“Having worked in that field for a very very long time, I actually used to work in that, I went into Chisholm Place,” she said. “So I think it’s important to understand that this is not forever, but that population of people are the most vulnerable.”
She said it raised a question in her mind of how the county is handling coronavirus control for traveling home health and hospice workers who provide care for seniors.
“You have nurses that be-bop in and out of multiple facilities,” she said. “Are they being tested? How is that being handled?”
Health Director Adrienne Byrne said the county has taken steps to inform nursing home and other health workers that they can be tested for the virus.
She said a representative of the Centers for Disease Control recently held a conference call for Kansas senior care facilities and was complimentary of the steps nursing homes have been taking to protect their residents.
This story was originally published April 29, 2020 at 8:58 AM.