DEMANDING ANSWERS
Rensselaer County Executive McLaughlin expresses concern after jump in cases at Riverside nursing home
CASTLETON, N.Y. » Yet another private-run nursing home facility regulated by the state is experiencing a rise in COVID-19 cases.
This past spring saw the Diamond Hill Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Schaghticoke saw 58 residents and 27 employees test positive for COVID-19, with ultimately 16 residents dying.
The latest outbreak comes at The Riverside - Center for Rehabilitation in Castleton, which has seen a recent surge in cases with 30 residents and nine esmployees testing positive for COVID-19.
That’s a sharp contrast to the county-run Van Rensselaer Manor facility, which has seen one resident test positive for COVID-19 and zero deaths since the pandemic numbers started being counted back in March.
The startling numbers have Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin concerned and demanding answers from state and facility operators as to how such an outbreak in cases is happening again.
According to Gary Holmes, New York State Department of Health spokesperson, “[ New York State Department of Health] Commissioner [Dr. Howard] Zucker spoke directly to the facility’s administrator [Monday] morning to offer PPE, staffing and any support the facility may need. The administrator assured the commissioner they had sufficient levels of all supplies, and the two agreed to speak again on Tuesday as we continue to monitor the situation.”
“Our epidemiology team had also previously been in contact with the facility, offering support where needed, and visited facility Sunday night to ensure proper cohorting practices were being implemented,” Holmes continued.
“The state is actively working with the county to conduct contact tracing within the facility. DOH was also at the facility last week for a COVID focus inspection to ensure strong infection control practices were in place. We found no deficiencies and there were sufficient levels of PPE. For context, we’ve conducted more than 1,200 of these inspections statewide since March,” Holmes added.
In addition to Riverside and Diamond Hill, there have been other outbreaks in the Capital Region, including the Barnwell and Teresian House facilities in Columbia and Albany counties respectively.
“I have first a great deal of con
cern about what is happening at Riverside and want these residents protected and cared for. How we are now seeing a significant surge in cases at a private facility like Riverside after having months to prepare, seeing implementation of expanded testing and other measures is a major issue that needs to be addressed,” McLaughlin remarked on the surge in cases.
As he has previously called on statewide nursing home deaths to be investigated, McLaughlin reiterated the need to look at why these outbreaks are happening again.
“New York state needs to immediately investigate how this outbreak occurred at Riverside and how so many residents and employees become exposed and then confirmed for COVID-19. This is yet another example of a private care facility overseen by the state have dozens of cases and exposures,” McLaughlin noted.
“Between Riverside and Diamond Hill alone, two state- supervised, private care facilities, we have seen 124 cases involving residents and employees. When you consider our entire county has 667 total confirmed cases, you see that there is a significant issue occurring at private nursing homes that needs to be addressed,” McLaughlin continued on the number of cases.
“There needs to be an investigation, there needs to be a remedy for this problem and a plan of action for how to avoid this happening in the future. For a significant outbreak like this to be occurring several months into the pandemic raises very real and troubling questions,” McLaughlin emphasized on the need for a solution to stop nursing home infections.
“We have worked hard in our county to stop the spread and our residents and businesses have been careful to adhere to social distancing and stay at- home recommendations. It would be unfair if the outbreaks at state-supervised, private nursing homes are counted against the county,” McLaughlin added.
Meanwhile, there were no new cases of COVID-19 (coronavirus) confirmed today to the Rensselaer County Health Department, it was announced on Monday.
Along with no new cases, the county also announced eight cases as cleared for recovery. There are now 667 confirmed cases, with 55 active cases.
There are now six residents in the hospital with COVID-19, and none in the ICU. There are 232 residents in monitor quarantine, with 114 of those quarantines relating to travel.
There have been 24,672 tests administered, including 354 recorded yesterday.
There have been 31 deaths of residents from COVID-19.
The county also announced eight cases as cleared for recovery. There have been 581 cases cleared to date.