56 fatalities reported at 14 Benchmark facilities

Data includes 22 deaths at Ridgefield Crossings

At least 56 residents at assisted living facilities operated by one company throughout Connecticut have died after being exposed to the coronavirus, new data shows.

A total of 163 residents have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, across 14 facilities owned by Benchmark Senior Living in Connecticut. At least 104 employees have also gotten sick after being exposed to the virus.

The data, obtained by Hearst Connecticut Media, is based on Benchmark’s own accounting of the disease’s path through its senior homes and represents only a fraction of the 111 assisted living facilities in Connecticut.

“We are deeply saddened by the significant impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the world’s senior population and those who care for them,” said Amanda Cillo, a spokes

woman hired by Benchmark Senior Living from the public relations firm Burson Cohn & Wolfe.

“It is well-documented by public health experts that older people and those with underlying medical conditions are particularly susceptible to this novel coronavirus.”

Cillo did not immediately respond Tuesday to questions about the data.

An 88-year-old who resided at Ridgefield Crossings, an assisted living facility in Ridgefield, was the first Connecticut resident to die with the coronavirus. A total of 22 residents at the facility have now died after contracting COVID-19 and 44 people have tested positive for the disease, including 18 workers, according to data released by Benchmark.

The data also revealed other hot spots among Benchmark’s Connecticut facilities.

At The Village at Buckland Court in South Windsor, nine residents have died after falling ill, and 26 residents and 11 workers have tested positive for the disease.

Edgehill in Stamford recorded comparatively fewer deaths, but 19 workers tested positive, along with 28 residents, six of whom have since died, according to the data.

Three other facilities, The Village at East Farms in Waterbury, Benchmark Senior Living at Hamden and The Atrium at Rocky Hill all reported more than 20 cases of COVID-19 each between workers and residents.

Benchmark’s release of the data comes ahead of a statewide report on assisted living facilities expected to be made public Thursday by the governor’s office.

“We’re working on pulling that information together for the first time and we hope to be able to release that in our large data package on Thursday,” said Josh Geballe, chief operating officer for

Gov. Ned Lamont.

The state’s data shows the number of cases and deaths at specific nursing homes that health officials have attributed to COVID-19. The governor’s office has updated the data weekly, after multiple outbreaks were reported at nursing homes around the state.

This week will be the first time the data will include assisted living facilities.

Assisted living facilities differ from nursing homes in that residents there typically require less direct care, and may live in an apartment-style dwelling. Room and board is usually paid for by family members or by the person’s assets.

Nursing homes, meanwhile, are regulated and inspected through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid, and serve as health care facilities. Homes also often provide rehabilitative care to patients recovering from various medical conditions.

Nursing home deaths associated with COVID-19 comprise nearly half of the state’s total coronavirus fatalities, according to data released Friday, the most recent numbers available.

At least 768 residents of nursing homes in Connecticut have died.

State health officials have begun making onsite visits to homes, aided by staff from the National Guard in response to union complaints about worker conditions and the amount of protective gear available to them.

The governor’s office also announced nursing homes and assisted living facilities could face fines of up to

$5,000 for each violation if they fail to report cases of

COVID-19 to state health officials. Lamont’s office said as of Tuesday no fines had been issued.

Peter Yankowski / Hearst Connecticut Media Benchmark Senior Living at Ridgefield Crossing in Ridgefield. An 88-year-old former resident of the facility became the state’s first COVID-19 fatality in mid-March. Since then, another 21 residents there have died after contracting the disease.