Some CT nursing homes remain virus free

The coronavirus has decimated many of the nation’s nursing homes, where elderly, chronically ill residents account for 64 percent of Connecticut’s death toll of 4,201 and rising. They are roughly 100 times more likely to die of the virus than other people in the state.

So, the fact that some 41 of Connecticut’s 214 nursing homes have managed to keep out the virus, according to an analysis by C-HIT, is both remarkable and mystifying. Did they just get lucky?

Administrators at several COVID-19-free facilities use the word “fortunate” to describe a situation they acknowledge could change at any time.

“It’s really a day-by-day effort,” said Sue Peglow, administrator at the 120-bed Pendleton Health & Rehabilitation Center in Mystic, who said she supervises an “excellent staff ” of 200.

Early in the pandemic, residents who exhibited possible symptoms of the virus were isolated until test results showed they were not infected. After Gov. Ned Lamont prohibited most visitors to nursing homes, Pendleton kept in regular contact with residents’ families and has relied on telehealth appointments using video chats to reduce visits by outside medical providers. Their food suppliers leave deliveries at the back door instead of entering the building. And restaurant take-out orders are banned.

In her 28 years at Pendleton, Peglow has faced many challenges, she said, but none come close to matching COVID-19. “It’s ongoing and all-consuming.”

Leeway, Inc. in New Haven has also kept residents COVID-19 free, and Executive Director Jay Katz isn’t exactly sure why. But he does have some theories.

“We’re very fortunate that we’re so small, and our staff is great,” he said. Leeway has only 30 beds and currently 29 residents, predominantly black. In Connecticut, the virus has hit communities of color particularly hard, and living in a nursing home heightens that risk. Some nursing homes with the most deaths from COVID-19 as of June 10 also have higher percentages of minorities, according to a C-HIT review of state data.

Because of its size, Katz said, Leeway has limited interaction with the community and outside contractors, compared to a larger facility with more staff members and service providers going in and out.

Ironically, the facility may have benefited from a flu outbreak earlier this year, he said. Visitors have not been allowed since January. Leeway’s medical director also points out that residents each have their own room, which minimizes their potential exposure to the virus.

At the 44-bed Twin Maples Health Care Facility in Durham, administrator Amy Bentley said that getting an early start made a difference in fighting the virus. When there were conflicting or confusing recommendations at the beginning of the pandemic about how to protect residents and staff,

the home didn’t hesitate.

“Our facility was very fast in our implementation of all measures,” she said, including ensuring that supplies and equipment were always available. “Twin Maples practiced under the belief that we were and/or could be affected by this virus at any time.” Just last week, one resident who displayed no symptoms tested positive for COVID-19, becoming the facility’s first case.

On June 8, Lamont ordered an independent review of how nursing homes and assisted living centers prepared for and responded to COVID-19 to find out why some were hit so hard. He wants answers before a possible second wave of the virus arrives in the fall.