N.M. sees 36 virus cases at its mental hospital

Health Department says staff being vaccinated at facility in Las Vegas

The New Mexico Department of Health said Monday there have been 36 recent cases of COVID-19 at the New Mexico Behavioral Health Institute in Las Vegas, the only psychiatric hospital the state owns and operates.

Matt Bieber, a spokesman for the Department of Health, said the infected patients are in the facility’s Sunrise Village at Ponderosa, a building that has been designated as the institute’s “positive unit.”

According to the agency’s website, the Ponderosa building provides housing for up to 50 residents with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia diagnoses.

Bieber said 14 of the people at the Behavioral Health Institute who have tested positive for COVID-19 were past the 10-day exposure window, and two were hospitalized, with one expected to return to the facility Monday.

“All are medically stable,” Bieber said.

It was unclear when the first patient or resident tested positive, or the breakdown of positive test

results for patients versus employees.

The Department of Health did not respond to a follow-up email about the cases.

Las Vegas Mayor Louie Trujillo, who works as an accreditation officer at the institute, said he wasn’t authorized to discuss the outbreak.

But a report by the state Environment Department indicates many of the diagnoses were for workers. The Department of Health’s Division of Health Improvement — which monitors long-term care homes and other health facilities statewide — responded to reports of employee infections 24 times in the past 14 days, according to an updated COVID-19 workplace “watchlist” released Monday.

State agencies conduct rapid responses when one or more employees at a business, state government agency or other workplace test positive for COVID-19. A spokesman for the Environment Department did not respond to a request for comment late Monday on the outbreak at the Behavioral Health Institute.

Bieber said the institute will begin a two-day vaccination process starting Tuesday to inoculate staff who interact with patients. It was unclear if — or when — residents would be vaccinated. Though, patients and staff at nursing homes and assisted living facilities throughout the state began receiving vaccinations over the weekend.

Bieber said staff members have been taking precautions by wearing protective gear, and the facility screens employees, checking their temperature and having them fill out questionnaires prior to entering the facility.

He added that residents have their vital signs monitored three times a day, and there has been no communal dining or visitation.