Local nursing home’s COVID-19 cases drop
While the coronavirus continues to infect nursing home residents across the state — with more than half of licensed Texas facilities now reporting they’ve had at least one infection — one Harris County nursing home says it has gotten its alarming outbreak under control.
Earlier this month, county public health officials announced that 56 residents at the Oakmont Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center of Humble were potentially infected with COVID-19 and 14 were dead — the highest publicly known nursing home death toll in the jurisdiction.
But the facility in a statement Friday said it is now caring for only one patient with the virus, and county health officials report that staff — previously criticized as uncooperative — have been complying with efforts to improve their case documentation and infection control practices.
Such an outbreak was indicative of the effects of larger problems facing nursing homes, where there hasn’t been enough protective equipment or testing, and where even one death should be considered too many, said Amanda Fredriksen, associate state director for advocacy at AARP Texas.
“Every one of those 14 people is someone’s mother, father, grandmother,” Fredriksen said. “They all had families who love them and who miss them. And they didn’t have to die — not from COVID-19.”
Nursing homes were identified early in the pandemic as dangerous places for the coronavirus to spread. Residents were older and tended to have other medical issues. But even with a ban on visitors and group activities, hundreds of Texas nursing home residents have died as the pandemic presses on.
As of Thursday, nursing homes residents accounted for 39% of the state’s total known coronavirus-related deaths, according to data provided by the state.
Still, it has been nearly impossible to know how and where residents are being infected and dying. The public only learns of specific outbreaks as local officials announce them, such as with outbreaks in Texas City and La Porte. The state does not disclose cases or deaths by facility, and federal data has been inaccurate and incomplete.
“In general, in the nursing home world, transparency has always been a big concern,” said
Greg Shelley, program manager of the Harris County Long-term Care Ombudsman Program, explaining that the public is left at the mercy of whomever is responsible for reporting that data — be they with good or bad intentions.
Officials announced just last week, for example, that they are investigating a Cy-Fair facility with nine confirmed COVID-19 cases, including six deaths. Four more deaths are under review and another 64 residents and staff are being monitored for symptoms of the virus at the Park Manor of CyFair, a nursing rehabilitation facility, according to Harris County Public Health.
Harris County Public Health and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission began investigating operations at the Oakmont facility in late April after the first cases were reported there, according to a county press release.
County investigators uncovered reporting delays of at least several days and discrepancies in the number of cases and deaths reported, said Sherri Onyiego, director of nutrition and chronic disease prevention for Harris County Public Health. The many deaths and infections drew concern.
“Obviously, when you see a facility that has a high amount of deaths, that’s an impact to our community,” Onyiego said. “That’s an impact to the families that have their loved ones there.”
Last year, state investigators cited the 134-bed facility for nine violations of state rules. Among them, they failed to “provide services to meet the needs and preferences of each resident” and “provide quality services.”
The state has also investigated multiple times in recent months, including some investigations that are ongoing, said Kelli Weldon, spokesperson for Texas Health and Human Services.
On June 4, the county public health department issued control orders to ensure proper standards of care were maintained, which remain in place. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo at the time said the facility wasn’t cooperating with investigating health officials.
They oversaw widespread testing at the facility and worked with staff in adjusting where sick residents were placed, Onyiego said. They also worked with the facility on how it documented and reported positive cases, and on improving how staff used protective masks.
Oakmont provides short-term rehabilitation, memory care and long-term care, according to its website. Its operated by the Tennessee-based Diversicare Healthcare Services Inc.
In their statement, the company said that from the start they “already had extensive policies in place with regard to COVID-19 and infection control, and were reporting data on our infection rates directly to the Center[sic] for Disease Control (CDC) per regulations.”
They said they’ve been working closely with the county and state and will continue to do so.
“The safety and well-being of our patients, residents and team members is our number one priority,” they wrote.