COVID-19 COVID-19 at county skilled nursing facilities

was complimented by CDPH on several occasions for its COVID prevention interventions,” Cruz wrote about The Shores. “In December 2020, CDPH performed an infection control mitigation survey and the facility had zero deficiencies.”

In 2020, there were 69 complaints against The Shores filed with CDPH, compared with the statewide average of 21 for facilities of a similar size and type. Of those, investigations found a total of 10 deficiencies, all of which were the second least severe level, meaning no actual harm was caused but there was a potential for more than minimal harm to occur.

During an Oct. 18 inspection, a certified nursing assistant was observed walking in the hallway without a face mask while spraying an air deodorizer, according to the summary statement of deficiencies. When interviewed by the inspector, the nursing assistant said, “I just removed it. Yes, I’m supposed to wear it.” The report also states that according to The Shores’ May 20 face covering policy, “All staff are required to wear a face mask at all times in the facility.”

News of the outbreak at The Shores was not a surprise to Nancy Kral, a Torrey Highlands resident whose 95-year-old mother, Ruth

Palmer, stayed there for a week last month.

Palmer was admitted to the facility while recovering from a mid-November leg fracture, and soon after transferring to the facility, Kral received text updates from The Shores reporting a couple of novel coronavirus

U-T

cases among staff and residents.

During a video chat with her mother, Kral said she appeared to be in poor health.

“I was horrified by how bad she looked,” Kral said.

Kral asked her brother for help, and they were able to have her transferred to an

assisted living facility two days later, where she is receiving home health visits. Although the transfer between facilities went smoothly, Palmer’s dentures were left behind, so Kral had to pick them up from The Shores.

Upon arrival, she said she found the front desk receptionist maskless and eating lunch as workers walked in and out of the facility making deliveries, despite the safety protocols for visitors and staff to wear both masks and face shields.

Asked to respond to Kral’s experience, Marionne Matusalem, the senior administrator, said the facility strives “to deliver the highest level of dignity and quality of care.”

But, she added, “the facility is not immune to an observation of an area that could be enhanced, but it has the highest commitment to ensuring quality of care is upheld.”

Palmer has not tested positive for the virus, and Kral said she was doing much better immediately after transferring to the assisted living facility, where she has been able to do social-distanced patio visits.

The spike in cases within San Diego County facilities mirrors what nursing homes are experiencing across the state and throughout the nation as CVS Pharmacy continues to administer the first round of vaccines to staff and residents.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reported this week that as of Dec. 27, there have been 497,693 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among nursing home residents and 425,357 cases among staff throughout the country. Thus far, novel coronavirus infections have caused 97,106 resident and 1,292 staff deaths.

Outbreaks at skilled nursing facilities are deemed active when one resident or health care worker from the facility tests positive for the novel coronavirus. An outbreak is deemed inactive once no one has tested positive for at least two weeks.

For the online version of this story with novel coronavirus details for all 86 skilled nursing facilities, visit www.caregiversd.com.