State denies Trenton Psychiatric Hospital patient dies of COVID-19, sources say ‘they’re lying’
TRENTON » Conflicting reports emerged from Trenton Psychiatric Hospital late Friday as sources claimed staff was told earlier in the day that a patient who tested positive for coronavirus died and the state denying that’s the case.
Donna Leusner, a Department of Health spokeswoman, responded to the Trentonian’s inquiry late Friday with a terse oneword answer, “no,” when asked if someone at the state-run facility perished from complications of coronavirus. But sources claimed “100 percent” that staff was informed a patient in his 60s had succumbed to the virus, which, if true, marks the first death at one of New Jersey’s four state-run psychiatric hospitals.
The man was said to have underlying conditions, including COPD, the sources said, and had been using a breathing machine.
A second independent source said the man had been housed in the intensive care unit after contracting the virus.
“They’re lying,” the source said of the state’s denial. “He died. He’s gone.”
The source identified the man by his first name, calling him “a sweetheart. He had been there [at the hospital] for a pretty long time.”
No mention of a patient’s death at Trenton Psych was made during Gov. Phil Murphy’s
Friday news briefing.
State officials acknowledged this week that at least one COVID-19 case has been documented at each of the state’s psychiatric hospitals.
Trenton’s health officer is supposed to be notified of any deaths within city limits but hadn’t been notified of any patient’s passing as of 4:30 p.m., city spokesman Connor Ilchert said.
At Trenton Psychiatric, at least three patients and three staffers tested positive for the diseases. And at least one patient at Ann Klein Forensic Center has coronavirus, officials said.
Trenton Psych’s CEO Robyn Wramage-Caporoso has come under fire for her alleged cavalier approach to keeping patients and employees safe during the pandemic, according to multiple employees who spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared retaliation. Employees are worried about how ill-equipped the psych hospital, which houses vulnerable patients and the criminally insane, is to deal with a widespread outbreak.
Trenton has 83 known cases of the virus, with 51 still under investigation, Ilchert said.
The state total is nearing 30,000, including 646 deaths.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect the state’s denial and additional information from another inside source