A 5-star New Jersey nursing and assisted living facility was evacuated Wednesday after two dozen residents and five staff members tested positive for the 2019 novel coronavirus.
All of its residents had not tested positive for the disease, despite reports that touted that all facility residents and employees should be considered infected. It’s a scenario that could be playing out numerous times as COVID-19 continues its sprawl at more facilities around the country.
“I know for a fact 100% of people did not test positive for COVID-19,” Jon Dolan, president and CEO of the Health Care Association of New Jersey, told McKnight’s Long-Term Care News on Thursday. “They were assuming that folks had all been exposed, which follows [Center for Disease Control and Prevention] guidelines.
To assume the mass-transfer situation was anything more than “a very well-executed relocation and evacuation would be quite erroneous,” he added.
Some observers have wondered if a nursing home’s staff and residents could become 100% infected since the novel coronavirus can spread so quickly and dangerously before being detected. In reality, three nuns had been left to take care of about 100 residents after many workers had fallen ill, forcing the evacuation.
The relocation happened Wednesday at the St. Joseph’s Senior Home Assisted Living & Nursing Center in Woodbridge, NJ, according to Dolan. He said the effort was “planned methodically” between the state and providers. Residents were moved to a special CareOne long-term care community about 30 miles away.
As of Thursday, St. Joseph had reported three deaths from the coronavirus, along with 24 positive resident cases and five staff cases. Overall, about 43 long-term care centers in New Jersey have had at least one positive case of coronavirus, officials said.
“While St. Joe remains the toughest situation and most tragic as to spread and loss of life, it is another example of healthcare workers doing the best they can and the state coordinating very well with their interventions,” Dolan said.
“The health and wellness of our long-term care residents and the caregiving teams who support them is our top priority. This is a fast-changing situation, and we are committed to ensuring that residents and dedicated staff have the resources they need to prevent and contain COVID-19. We are keeping the residents, staff and family members of the St. Joseph’s Senior Home Assisted Living & Nursing Center in Woodbridge in our thoughts and prayers,” James W. McCracken, president and CEO of LeadingAge New Jersey & Delaware, said in a statement.
Dolan also stressed the importance of personal protective equipment and support for long-term care facilities as providers in the state respond to the pandemic.
“Long-term care must be treated as fairly as our other friends in the healthcare system. I’m not confident that’s fully happening yet,” Dolan said.
“Since we have the most vulnerable folks and residents and we’re on the front lines trying not to infect or compromise the lives of those most impacted by the disease, we certainly appreciate the state’s effort in intervention,” he added. “In these emergency situations, that has included PPE. I think we need to go to that next level and make sure we’re all coordinating.”
