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COVID-19 outbreak at Moon nursing home claims six lives in June

Beaver County Times - 6/25/2020

Jun. 25--MOON TWP. -- The West Hills Health and Rehabilitation Center is experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak that has claimed six lives this month and seen 32 residents and 11 staff members infected as of Wednesday.

According to West Hills spokeswoman Annaliese Impink, the center does not know the source of the infection, "but believes that it may have been the result of a staff member who tested positive and who was asymptomatic."

West Hills provides daily updates on its website, but does not list deaths. On Monday, the update said there were 26 residents and seven staff who had tested positive.

Social media posts had claimed that three residents had died in the last two weeks, and Impink confirmed Wednesday that all six deaths at the center had occurred in June.

"Each one of these deaths is a loss for the staff and residents of our center and we offer our sincerest sympathy to the families involved," she said in an email. "We know that this is an unsettling and scary time for our residents and their family members. We understand and greatly appreciate family members' concern for their loved ones and are doing everything in our power to keep our residents safe and protected."

Impink said a decision was made to test the entire center after two residents with symptoms were sent to the hospital and tested positive for COVID-19. "We have had a number of asymptomatic residents and staff who tested positive after the testing was completed," she said.

West Hills is in "frequent communication" with the state Department of Health, Impink said, and staff are taking "significant measures to protect all our residents," such as contact tracing, enhanced monitoring, cohorting residents with similar symptoms or who have tested positive, conferring with the center's medical director and expanded education.

Staff members undergo a health assessment before every shift, which includes screening for respiratory illness and high temperatures. All health-care professionals entering the facility are also screened.

Any employees sent home for treatment or self-isolation must either test negative for COVID-19 or meet CDC return recommendations and be cleared by a physician, Impink said.

The Allegheny County Health Department is aware of the situation at West Hills and is working with the center, said county spokeswoman Amie Downs.

"When a COVID-19 case is identified among residents or staff at a long-term care facility, the Health Department designates someone to be the main point of contact for that facility. The Health Department and the facility communicate regularly," Downs said. "The Health Department shares guidance from the state Department of Health, answers any questions and helps the facility interpret and apply the guidance to its operations. The facility shares information about its procedures and the current status of any cases."

Allegheny County moved into the green phase of Gov. Tom Wolf's COVID-19 reopening plan on June 5, but it has seen daily increases of 45 cases on two of the last four days.

Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine announced Wednesday that her department and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency are partnering with CVS Health to offer free COVID-19 testing to skilled nursing home facilities across the state.

CVS Health-owned Omnicare will conduct as many as 50,000 tests for residents and employees in Pennsylvania beginning Monday. A three-tiered priority list for testing begins with facilities with new or ongoing outbreaks then moves to those with a history of a resolved outbreak and ends with facilities with no outbreaks.

This testing effort comes after Levine issued a universal testing order for nursing homes and care facilities on June 9.

"COVID-19 is a particularly challenging situation for congregate settings, particularly our nursing home facilities. This partnership strengthens and increases access to ensure universal testing is completed in nursing homes, as required in the order issued earlier this month," Levine said in a statement. "It will provide us the opportunity to better address outbreaks and work to prevent future outbreaks in nursing home facilities. These teams are assisting us in our response in the hardest-hit areas as we work to protect the public health and safety of Pennsylvanians."

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(c)2020 the Beaver County Times (Beaver, Pa.)

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