COVID-19 cases grow in Valley nursing homes. State shows only snapshot, not facility deaths
Coronavirus cases continue to surface at more skilled nursing facilities in the central San Joaquin Valley as others aren’t reporting data to the state.
In the Valley, two Tulare County facilities – Redwood Springs Healthcare Center in Visalia and Lindsay Gardens Nursing and Rehabilitation Facility in Lindsay – have the largest reported COVID-19 outbreaks.
One more Redwood Springs patient has died of coronavirus, Tulare County public health officials said Wednesday, putting that facility’s death at 25.
There has been one COVID-19 death at Lindsay Gardens, reported Tuesday.
Redwood Springs had a total of 115 patients test positive for coronavirus as of Wednesday (one more than the previous day), along with 61 staff and eight others (such as visiting family), health officials said.
Lindsay Gardens had nine more patients with COVID-19 on Wednesday, for a total of 61, and two more staff members with COVID-19, for a total of 17, with eight others also testing positive.
In addition, Linwood Meadows Care Center in Visalia – which, like Redwood Springs, is owned by the Plum Corporation – had one more patient test positive for coronavirus on Wednesday, bringing that total to 11, along with one staff member, health officials said.
New nursing homes report cases, in Dinuba and Sanger
On Wednesday, a state list of skilled nursing facilities, last updated Tuesday, showed two new facilities with coronavirus cases: Dinuba Healthcare and Dycora Transitional Health & Living - Sanger.
A Dinuba Healthcare administrator said its facility has two coronavirus patients, with no deaths and no staff testing positive. Thirty other patients have been tested for COVID-19 although they weren’t exhibiting signs or symptoms of the virus, the administrator said. Dinuba Healthcare has approximately 84 residents and 120 employees.
Tulare County health officials didn’t provide specific numbers for Dinuba Healthcare, saying: “We can only say that there are less than 11 cases, for the same reason that the state cannot give the numbers — privacy laws and the risk of making a case (or cases) identifiable.”
The state reported Dycora - Sanger had less than 11 health care workers there test positive for COVID-19. Requests for comment from that facility were not returned Wednesday, but another Dycora administrator said that facility has one staff member with COVID-19.
Coronavirus in Fresno nursing homes
Three skilled nursing facilities in Fresno have reported COVID-19 at their facilities — among five new nursing homes in the central San Joaquin Valley to disclose COVID-19 at their facilities on Monday.
There are 12 patients with coronavirus at Dycora Transitional Health & Living - Manchester, near Shields Avenue and First Street.
There are two patients and four staff members to test positive at Dycora Transitional Health & Living - Fresno, previously named Golden Living, located downtown next to Community Regional Medical Center.
There was one patient and one health care worker with coronavirus at The Terraces at San Joaquin Gardens in Fresno. A spokesman there said the patient has recovered and the health care worker is in self-quarantine at home.
Fresno County public health officials said Tuesday that they confirmed 16 coronavirus cases between the two Dycora facilities, but did not provide a breakdown for those cases.
The Dycora facility downtown said its facility was first notified Friday by its acute care hospital that a patient had tested positive for coronavirus after being discharged from its care center.
“We initiated contact tracing, to determine who could potentially develop COVID-19 at some point due to the exposure,” Dycora officials said. “We tested the former resident’s roommate in our care center, who also tested positive.”
The downtown Dycora facility has 192 patients and 236 employees.
A Dycora administrator Wednesday said there are currently no other Dycora Transitional Health & Living care centers in the area with COVID-19 patients.
On Tuesday afternoon, a spokesperson with the Fresno County Department of Public Health said: “Surveillance and symptomatic testing in Skilled Nursing Facility populations is ongoing due to the higher risks in these patients. The FCDPH is actively engaged with state and local agencies to ensure safety protocols are being followed, and our Communicable Disease Investigation Program is actively investigating any cases of COVID-19 in congregate living situations. Additional tests are pending and FCDPH cannot provide additional details while these cases are being investigated.”
Deaths in skilled nursing facilities
In response to a question about whether there have been any COVID-19 deaths at the downtown Fresno Dycora facility, a Dycora administrator there said Wednesday: “We have not confirmed any deaths related to COVID-19 at this time.”
At the Dycora - Manchester facility, an administrator there had been no COVID-19 deaths and patients were “asymptomatic and doing well.”
Nursing home residents in California make up nearly 40% of COVID-19 deaths in the state, new public health data shows, making skilled nursing and assisted living facilities the deadliest hotspots in the coronavirus pandemic.
A Dinuba Healthcare administrator said he expects COVID-19 cases to continue rising in skilled nursing facilities.
“This virus is almost designed to attack our environment. It is having its effect, as everyone can see across the country on this specific vulnerable population,” Steve Powell said. “It’s just the new norm for our industry probably, until someone can come along with a vaccine and help cure this thing.”
The state list of skilled nursing facilities recently added a cumulative death count, up to 618 deaths as of Tuesday, but has not released death counts for specific facilities. That information has come from county officials or facilities who choose to release this information or from media reports.
Reporting data to state
Earlier this week, the state list of skilled nursing home facilities with COVID-19 showed Fresno County among the worst in the state for not reporting its nursing home data to the state. On Tuesday, eight Fresno County nursing homes in the state list had data listed as not available, which “indicates a facility did not report its data.”
Only two other California counties had more nursing homes listing data not available to the state: Los Angeles and San Diego.
The state lists included eight Fresno County facilities as “N/A” – just one less than San Diego County, which has dozens more nursing homes and a population of over 3 million people, more than triple the population of Fresno County.
That list changed on Wednesday, dropping from eight to just two Fresno County facilities not reporting data (with data through Tuesday, per the state).
On Tuesday, Fresno County public health officials told The Bee they were working with local skilled nursing facilities to report COVID-19 cases, and that this information is updated regularly by the California Department of Public Health and is “not intended to suggest neglect or wrongdoing on the part of the facility.”
The state list is far from comprehensive, however. It’s just a list of skilled nursing facilities — those that care for individuals who need substantial medical assistance — not all senior living communities and homes.
The data is also described as a “point-in-time snapshot,” revealing new cases within the previous 24 hours, and not cumulative totals per facility.
There are also discrepancies. While Dycora - Manchester, and county health officials, reported COVID-19 cases there for the first time Tuesday, the state list – which says its data includes Tuesday – showed no cases at the facility. A Dycora administrator said he doesn’t know why that is and that he’s been in contact with “all agencies” about that.
In addition, old cases, like those at The Terraces, don’t show up on the list.
One Tulare County facility on the list, Twin Oaks Rehabilitation & Nursing Center, reported less than 11 health care workers with COVID-19, per data through Monday. The state list showed the facility with no cases as of Wednesday. Requests for comment from Twin Oaks were not returned.
Tulare County health officials said they couldn’t provide specific information about Twin Oaks: “There were isolated cases at several area skilled nursing facilities that are now beyond the 14-day quarantine period. To report such a low number runs the risk of revealing PHI and violating the HIPAA and Health & Safety Code.”
In the Valley, the state list of skilled nursing facilities (as of data through Tuesday) also showed data as not available at two nursing homes in Tulare County.
Health officials said facilities are required to report their data directly to the state along with to county health departments.
Precautionary measures taken
Redwood Springs and Lindsay Gardens were both receiving help from emergency Cal-MAT health care teams and other outside staff. Tulare County health officials said the county and state are working with its nursing facilities to expand COVID-19 testing and ensure proper use of personal protective equipment.
A Lindsay Gardens spokesman said a number of its COVID-19 patients are in recovery and have not shown symptoms for more than seven days, and that most with coronavirus at the facility are showing no to moderate symptoms.
Spokespeople for several Valley skilled nursing facilities with COVID-19 cases also provided information about precautionary measures to protect residents and staff. Those include restricting non-essential visitors from entering, screening for temperature and symptoms, closing communal dining, canceling some activities, increasing cleanings, and using personal protective equipment.
The Dycora facility downtown said it’s coordinating with local and state health officials to test all of its patients for COVID-19.
This story was originally published April 28, 2020 at 3:19 PM.
