GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — (GRAND HAVEN TRIBUNE) - More than 20 positive cases of COVID-19 have been reported among residents of a local nursing home.
According to long-term virus data collected by the state, MediLodge at the Shore, of Grand Haven, has 21 positive cases of COVID-19, as of Thursday morning.
Kristina Wieghmink, Ottawa County Department of Public Health public information officer, said the department is involved when positive cases are confirmed.
“Any assisted living facility in Ottawa County with a positive COVID-19 case works with our response team on disease investigation, contact tracing and isolation of individuals to mitigate or slow the spread of infection,” she said.
Marie Hitsman, who has friends and family at the facility, said the virus is continuing to spread, causing significant concern.
“COVID-19 has been going around,” she said. “I’m still unsure how it got there, since that nursing home has been on lockdown since February.”
Hitsman noted over Mother’s Day weekend, she heard of 17 positive cases in the facility.
With the news, Hitsman said her loved ones are scared and don’t have any answers.
“Someone has to have a voice for all of (them) because, unfortunately, they can’t,” she said. “So I will be the voice for them.”
Hitsman said she has been in contact with different agencies to try and get answers. For now, she and others with family and friends in the facility will continue to see them through the windows and doors.
MediLodge at the Shore officials would not comment on the situation.
According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services website, nursing homes and other long-term care facilities have been required to send daily reports to the state since late April.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes, also have been asked to restrict visitors, unless for compassionate care situations, including end-of-life. Those permitted into the facilities should be screened for symptoms. The CDC also suggests social distancing, canceling group activities and using face coverings.
On April 23, nursing homes started using the same ER Resource (Emergency Management) software for reporting COVID-19 cases, as is used by area hospitals, according to Jennifer VanSkiver, information officer for North Ottawa Community Health Systems (NOCHS) – which includes the North Ottawa Care Center nursing home.
The nursing homes follow guidelines set by the Medicaid and Medicare services, VanSkiver said.
As of Thursday, there were no reported cases of COVID-19 at the 84-bed North Ottawa Care Center, she said. The totals reported on Michigan.gov do not include patients who have died, she added.
The hospital system’s eight-bed hospice residence is also not included in the reporting. Independent living units, or retirement living are also not included in the figures.
“Nursing homes are the most highly regulated environments,” VanSkiver said.
If a resident was suspected of having COVID-19 at the NOCHS facility, the patient would be isolated to his or her room; staff serving that resident would be limited to only that room; and the patient would receive a swab test, VanSkiver said.
While the test is being processed, the reporting procedure is started – to the county, region and state – and contact tracing begins.
The health department is notified and they take over the tracing, VanSkiver said.
Temporary barriers are installed in the room, if needed, and a separate toilet is brought in if the resident was living in a suite-style setting.
Everything is washed down and the nursing home can separate the room or suite from the central HVAC system and change the airflow so there is negative pressure.
That means that the air from the room goes through a filter and is re-circulated in the room.
“It cuts the airflow of the room off from the rest of the building,” VanSkiver said. “There is an enormous amount of planning that goes into this.”
She said every plan has double backups.
“People are under a lot of stress,” VanSkiver said, noting for the people dealing with family in a nursing home, the situation is “unimaginable.” “It’s a hard situation for everybody.”
The level of care, creativity and ingenuity exhibited by staff in nursing homes is “mind blowing,” VanSkiver said.
Even though families can’t visit, they should continue to engage with their family member with video visits, email and stopping outside their window.
Recently, many nursing homes have been visited by different parades, which have allowed residents to wave to people passing by the building while maintaining social distancing.
VanSkiver said they realized that a lot of COVID-19 cases happen in group settings.
“That’s not because they are not receiving good care,” she said. “There’s just higher risk in the communal setting.”
It’s kind of like the risk of your kids in the college dorm, but at least they could leave and go home, she said.
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