As COVID-19 cases in Pa. nursing homes increase, so does frustration with reporting process
The state Department of Health has yet to identify which nursing or personal care homes have a confirmed case of the coronavirus, even as cases and deaths in long-term care facilities mount.
Of the 2,418 Pennsylvanians who have died from COVID-19 as of noon Saturday, 66.7% were nursing or personal care home residents, according to the state’s data.
Nearly 21% of total cases in the Keystone State involve a long-term care resident or employee. Three residents and two employees have tested positive across two facilities in Centre County as of noon Saturday, according to the DOH.
The Oaks at Pleasant Gap confirmed Tuesday that a resident and a staff member tested positive, and a staff member at Wynwood House at State College’s 2350 Bernel Road facility tested positive, owner Vincent Romanini told the CDT Friday.
Those two facilities notified residents’ friends and family members of the cases and issued public statements after information was requested by the CDT. It’s unclear where the second and third resident cases indicated on the state’s website are from.
Health Department spokesman Nate Wardle did not directly say in a statement Thursday why the department has not identified facilities with a case of COVID-19.
“We are constantly reviewing and considering what information to release publicly, while also protecting the privacy and confidentiality of Pennsylvanians,” Wardle wrote. “Discussions about data and information that we can provide are ongoing as we work to keep the public and the media informed.”
There have been other questions and inconsistencies with the state’s data in the past weeks.
On April 23, more than 200 deaths — including one in a Centre County long-term care facility — were removed from the state’s official count as the Health Department removed probable deaths from its official count, Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said.
At the time, it was the also the first time Centre County landed on the state’s list of counties with a case in a nursing home. The report led to dozens of panicked calls from family members to long-term care facilities in the county, Romanini said.
Essentially every long-term care facility that operates in Centre County has implemented sweeping policy changes to mitigate the spread of the disease.
Juniper Village said the pandemic is the “greatest challenge (it) has ever faced,” while Romanini said last week that he is “scared to death” of a case in one of his facilities.
“I’m just five small homes, but that’s 300 residents and staff. That’s a big deal,” Romanini said. “I am scared to death. We’re five months into this whole process and yet we don’t have all the information. It’s changing daily.”
Several other states, including neighboring New York and New Jersey, have at least partially identified facilities with outbreaks.
The AARP of Pennsylvania called for more transparency from the DOH, saying in a letter sent to Gov. Tom Wolf that it is “troubling that some families remain in the dark about the care that their loved ones are receiving.”
“We know that older adults and those with underlying health conditions are more vulnerable to (the) coronavirus and more likely to die from this disease,” AARP Pennsylvania Director Bill Johnston-Walsh said in a statement. “State officials, nursing home operators and family caregivers must all work together during this crisis to ensure residents remain healthy and connected with their families.”
State and federal politicians have shown bipartisan support for identifying facilities with a case of COVID-19 in the future.
State Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Benner Township, declined through a spokeswoman to say whether the DOH should identify facilities, though he did vote for a bill that would require the state to notify local first responders of COVID-19 cases in their communities.
The bill would require the DOH or local health authorities to release to 911 centers, police, fire, EMS and coroners an individual’s communicable disease status when the disease is the subject of the governor’s emergency disaster proclamation.
“First responders who are putting their lives at risk should know exactly what the situation is when responding to an emergency so they can do everything possible to protect themselves,” Corman said in a statement.
Centre County Coroner Scott Sayers is one of several coroners throughout the state that has grown increasingly frustrated with the department’s reluctance to seek help about how to handle suspected COVID-19 cases.
Any suspected death of a contagious disease in Centre County is to be reported to Sayers’ office, but the DOH’s reporting does not require any such notification.
“It’d be nice to let us know because the state reports these deaths and then folks in the media call our office and we’re like, ‘We don’t know anything about the death,’ ” Sayers said. “It looks like we don’t know what we’re doing. We do know what we’re doing, but it’s just not getting reported.”
This story was originally published May 2, 2020 at 2:55 PM.