Nursing home evacuated during virus outbreak reopens

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California nursing home that was evacuated after staff failed to show up for work amid a coronavirus outbreak reopened Friday, officials said.

More than 80 patients were removed in April from the Magnolia Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, a skilled nursing facility in Riverside, east of Los Angeles.

The facility began accepting patients again after working with the state and county for several months on a reopening plan, according to a Riverside County statement.

The California Department of Public Health approved the reopening after a review, the statement said.

New and returning staff will operate Magnolia, which will mainly treat COVID-19 patients who have been discharged from the hospital but still need care, county spokeswoman Brooke Federico told the Riverside Press-Enterprise.

The reopening “will be a big help to ease the burden from our local hospitals,” county Supervisor Karen Spiegel said in the statement.

Spiegel said skilled nursing facilities are a critical part of the county’s surge plan.

Testing had found at least 34 patients and 16 staff members of the facility had COVID-19.

On April 8, 84 patients were removed from the home after only one of 13 certified nursing assistants showed up to work. Staff had stayed away for two days in a row.

Dozens of ambulances moved the residents to other nursing homes and hospitals around the county.

“Back in April, many of those employees tested positive for the coronavirus and did not go to work to protect those people. It was heartbreaking for these workers to not be with their patients,” said Dr. Frank Flowers with the county-run Riverside University Health System, which sent nurses to care for residents at the facility before the evacuation.

The county statement quoted Magnolia’s owner, Veronica Mayes, as saying: “Even in the darkness, there is always light. You always find a new path. The people inside here are what make it a home.”

Riverside County reported 28,695 virus cases as of Friday, with 587 deaths and 535 people hospitalized.

Skilled nursing facilities have been hit hard by the coronavirus, and residents are considered especially vulnerable due to their age and other health conditions and close proximity to each other.