‘A scary situation for all.’ Nearly 90% of residents at Centre Crest have COVID-19
Nearly 90% of Centre Crest residents are actively infected with the coronavirus, leaving the Bellefonte facility as a symbol of the unabated spread of COVID-19 in nursing or personal care homes in Centre County.
There were 145 active cases among the nursing and rehabilitation center’s 164 residents as of Monday, Administrator Andrew Naugle said.
There are also 46 active cases among the facility’s 283 employees, a rate of about 16%.
“If you look at the United States right now, the positivity rates are through the roof everywhere. Nursing homes everywhere are having outbreaks,” Naugle said Tuesday. “We did a really good job during the first round of outbreaks in March and April of keeping it out of the facility, keeping it contained out of the building. Unfortunately, the positivity rates have just grown so high in the United States right now it’s just hard to keep them out of facilities and nursing homes altogether.”
The disease ravaged long-term care facilities in November.
Cases among residents in Centre County more than tripled, cases among staff increased from 44 to 76 and deaths more than doubled, according to state Health Department data.
There have been 466 cases among nursing or personal care home residents in Centre County across 16 facilities, though it is unclear from state data how the cases are distributed.
Centre Crest, AristaCare at Hearthside and Windy Hill Village are among the facilities in Centre County with the most cases among residents, according to self-reported data. They have reported at least 145, 113 and 60 cases, respectively.
“My heart goes out to the residents, staff and family members of those at Centre Crest,” state House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, R-Bellefonte, said in a statement. “... Throughout this pandemic, we have worked diligently to support state departments and programs designed (to) alleviate and combat outbreaks such as this. The state needs to bring all resources to bear to provide any additionally requested support to Centre Crest or any nursing home facing an outbreak to protect our most vulnerable loved ones.”
Naugle declined to comment on the number of deaths at Centre Crest.
The Centre County Coroner’s Office identifies deaths attributed to COVID-19 in long-term care facilities only by ZIP code. Thirty of the county’s 47 deaths reported in November were reported in the 16823 ZIP code, where Centre Crest and at least one other long-term care facility are located.
“I knew there was a problem at Centre Crest. I didn’t realize it was this bad,” Bellefonte Borough Council President Joanne Tosti-Vasey said. “So in one word: Wow.”
Tosti-Vasey outlined several suggestions to curb the outbreak, including testing all residents and staff when a new case is identified and establishing a policy that would allow nursing homes to share staff when needed.
Centre County does not have its own health department, leaving much oversight of long-term care facilities to the state.
The state Health Department generally does not comment on specific facilities “unless there is a need to do so,” including if action is required by the state, spokesperson Nate Wardle wrote in an email.
Centre Crest has received staffing support from the department’s Regional Response Health Collaborative Program, though it was not immediately clear why a nearly 90% infection rate did not warrant further action.
“We know that cases in a facility are not necessarily a sign of a failure on the part of a facility. Cases often enter a facility through employees who live in their communities,” Wardle wrote. “That is why it is so important that all Pennsylvanians take steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by following orders in place, staying home, wearing a mask, social distancing, not gathering, washing their hands, and if sick, staying home.”
Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Interim state President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, R-Benner Township, refrained from criticizing the the state’s response.
He cautioned its “too early to tell” if the state’s response was adequate, but acknowledged Centre Crest’s outbreak is “concerning.”
“We’re certainly concerned,” Corman said. “... It spreads fairly quickly and it is a very vulnerable population, so you put the two together and it’s a scary situation for all.”
This story was originally published December 1, 2020 at 7:19 PM with the headline "‘A scary situation for all.’ Nearly 90% of residents at Centre Crest have COVID-19."