DFW nursing homes show mixed response to protecting residents from coronavirus
As multiple cases of COVID-19 are being tested in DFW, assisted living facilities are being urged to take precautions to protect some of those most susceptible to the coronavirus.
Nursing homes and care centers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area had varied responses when it came to protecting elderly residents from exposure to the virus, which is particularly dangerous for people over 80 years old, according to the CDC.
Some facilities shut down visitation entirely, while others restricted the number of visitors permitted. Another facility had seemingly taken no extra precautions to limit visitors, alarming one Mansfield resident whose grandfather lives in the facility.
“If anyone should be taking more precaution, it should be senior living facilities, and they’re not doing anything,” Josh Tipton said about the Mansfield senior living center.
In Washington state, at least 31 people have died from coronavirus, and nearly all the deaths are associated with one of five long-term care facilities, the Washington Post reported. At the Life Care Center of Kirkland, 26 people have died since Feb. 19.
DFW nursing homes respond to virus
Wedgwood Nursing Home in Fort Worth shut down its facility on Dan Danciger Road to all visitors, the facility announced in a Facebook post.
“We must prevent this virus from entering our center,” the post said.
The facility said there is a risk that someone who appears healthy could come into the building and infect residents. A faculty member at Wedgwood referred the Star-Telegram to their corporate office for questions.
Ridgmar Place, an independent living facility in Fort Worth, limited visitors to one a day per patient, Daniel Leaf, Regional Director of Operations, said. They also asked visitors to sanitize their hands and had staff take visitors’ temperatures before entering the facility.
The facility on Green Oaks Road replaced many of their table linens and dining ware with disposable materials, such as paper table cloths, to more easily sanitize eating areas, Leaf said.
He said families have been cooperative with the changes, and residents seem to feel safe, especially because the facility has a surplus of supplies that others are stocking up on.
“We are taking every precaution,” he said.
DFW Nursing and Rehab in Fort Worth was taking similar steps by sanitizing areas more often and screening visitors, administrator Sherry Caver said.
Visitors at the building on Leuda Street are limited to visiting residents for an hour and a half in the morning and evening. That might change as the situation evolves, Caver said, but their corporate office suggested those restrictions for now. Their staff and residents are being screened for any symptoms.
Three of the facility’s 72 residents have prior permission to leave the building, but Caver said the facility has now limited those residents’ comings-and-goings. They are now only allowed to leave the building between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.
“It’s forever evolving,” Caver said. “We’re watching the media and CDC to give us the next step.”
DFW Nursing and Rehab and Ridgmar Place said none of their residents or staff had displayed any symptoms of the virus.
‘It just takes one person’
Josh Tipton’s 90-year-old grandfather lives at Legend Senior Living, and Tipton said he was concerned with the facility’s response.
Tipton said he’s visited his grandfather every day, and nobody has asked him questions about his health or to sanitize his hands. A lobby off the main entrance still provides donuts, cakes and cookies out in the open, “there for anybody to touch,” he said Thursday.
“I mean, if they don’t start taking any precautions, we’ll have to think about getting him out of there at some point,” Tipton said. “I feel like it just takes one person, and it would be all over the place.”
Legend Senior Living in Mansfield has not restricted visitor access to residents, according to an email sent out to family members of residents.
An administrator at Legend Senior Living declined to comment to the Star-Telegram when asked what precautions the facility was taking.
Legend Senior Living operates properties in six states. An email from the company’s CEO said facilities were taking the following precautions:
- Putting reminders on the doors asking people not to come in if they have traveled recently or have any symptoms of illness.
- Reserving the right to check temperatures of visitors.
- Allowing access only to family, employees and essential health care providers.
- Following CDC recommendations on sanitizing surfaces more frequently and focusing on hand-washing and room cleaning.
“Legend is not taking cues and information only from news sources,” the CEO, Tim Buchanan, said in the email. “We have been in touch with the State Departments of Health and County Health Departments and are following all of their communication each day since the initial outbreak.”
On Thursday, the Texas Health Care Association issued a statement recommending that long-term care facilities restrict entry to only “individuals who absolutely need it.” The association also urged facilities to screen people going into the building and restrict outings to public spaces.
“THCA’s top priority right now is preventing COVID-19 from getting into long-term care facilities and stopping it from spreading if it does. THCA is coordinating efforts across the state to protect the most vulnerable to the impact of this virus — our elderly residents,” said Kevin Warren, President and CEO of THCA, in the statement.
A spokeswoman with Texas Health and Human Services told the Star-Telegram that the agency was “working closely with long-term and acute care facilities throughout the state to ensure they have up-to-date, clear information on preventing infectious diseases such as COVID-19.”
This story was originally published March 12, 2020 at 6:18 PM.
