Category Archives: Nursing homes

UPDATE: Windsor Vallejo Nursing Home now at 102 infected, 3 dead

Families concerned after Vallejo care center reports 103 COVID-19 infections, 3 deaths

KRON4 Bay Area News, by: Maureen Kell, May 8, 2020

VALLEJO, Calif. (KRON) — There’s been a third coronavirus death and more positive cases among residents at the Windsor Vallejo Care Center.

That means there are now 103 confirmed infected cases at that nursing home.

KRON4’s Maureen Kelly talked to the family of a patient who’s now in ICU because of the virus.

“They thought he would not make it to the through the night,” the aunt of William Bennett III said.

She said the 31-year-old COVID positive patient is now out of Windsor Vallejo Care Center and in ICU at Sutter Solano.

“He coded twice and they put the incubator in and the feeding tube,” she said. “And today they thought he was gonna be brain dead or have some brain issue, but today he recognize a doctor he opened up his eyes.”

Bennett has been living at the nursing home for over a year after suffering a series of strokes and being diagnosed with a rare blood disorder.

He is one of 80 residents who have tested positive at the facility over the last two weeks — three have died. 23 staff members have have also been infected.

His aunt had him moved to a room near a window so she and other family members could check on him. She said she was worried about him and wanted him hospitalized because he seemed lethargic.

“We knew he needed to be out of there,” she said.

He was transported by ambulance a few hours after her concerns were aired on KRON4 News.

It’s a skilled nursing home that was already having problems.

A medicare inspection report from the Department of Health and Human Services from April 12 found 23 health citations. Including one which found that the facility failed to ensure that the infection control principals were being followed. It was given a rating of much below average.

“You need to be mindful of people who cannot do for themselves,” she said. “And if you don’t have the compassion for it then you’re in the wrong business.”

A Windsor Vallejo Care Center issued a statement this week that staff are constantly getting updated training on best practices in regard to infection control and that they adhering to all federal and state recommendations to minimize the spread of this virus.

Bennet’s aunt says the doctors hope to wean him from the ventilator over the next two days. She says when her nephew is out of hospital, he will not be going back to that nursing home.


See previous BenIndy reports on Windsor Vallejo Care Center…
NOTE: Windsor Vallejo’s website does an excellent job of sharing extensive information about coronavirus, including an easy way for families to schedule Virtual Visits, but does not disclose numbers of positive or active cases.

2 dead, 97 others infected with coronavirus at Windsor Vallejo Care Facility

Two hospitalized in ICU, some moved to other nursing facilities, most sheltering in place


KRON4 Bay Area News, by Maureen Kelly, May 5, 2020

VALLEJO, Calif. (KRON) – Close to a hundred people linked to one skilled nursing facility in Vallejo have contracted coronavirus.

Two are now confirmed dead by Solano County Health Officials.

“I want him moved out of there, I want someone to come in there and shut this down,” Annette Bennett Lewis said.

Annette Bennett Lewis is talking about her 31-year-old nephew, a stroke victim who’s been living at the Windsor Vallejo Care Facility for about a year and is one of the 75 patients there that have tested positive for COVID-19.

She’s unable to visit in person but saw him through a window at the skilled nursing facility.

“He is now lethargic, he’s not eating very much, he’s not drinking very much, he says he doesn’t have a fever because there’s so many patients in there, they’re not able to come in there and give them much care. What we need is like Gavin Newsom to come up and jump up this will happen no more and take over this place put Windsor out of business or – President Trump help please,” Lewis said.

Bennett isn’t the only one concerned about a loved one there.

Danny Goza is worried about his mother Maria, an 86-year-old alzheimer’s patient.

Although she tested negative for coronavirus, 24 workers tested positive.

Goza and his niece fear that’s left the care center understaffed and the remaining workers overwhelmed.

“She was sitting in a fecal diaper, she had an accident before breakfast, they didn’t change her until her lunch tray came in and we couldn’t find her for three days,” Goza said.

In a statement, a representative from the Windsor Vallejo Care Center says their mission is to be hyper vigilant and take every recommended safety measure to try and minimize the continued spread of the virus to the residents and staff.

Windsor Vallejo Care Center (“Windsor”) has experienced an increase in the number of staff and residents suffering from COVID-19 despite the facility’s best efforts to prevent further infection.

Please be assured that the facility is adhering to all recommendations of federal and state agencies, including The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service (“CMS”), and the California Department of Public Health (“CDPH”). Our mission is to be hypervigilant in taking every recommended safety measure to minimize the continued spread of the virus to our residents and staff.

For some time now we have been screening employees at the start of each shift for symptoms of COVID-19 infection, including daily temperature checks and completion of a CDC compliant screening questionnaire. Employees who show signs of illness are asked to leave immediately and isolate at home.

Furthermore, residents and staff have been tested. Visits to our facility have been restricted in compliance with state and federal guidelines. We have increased sanitation of frequently-touched surfaces. We have ample supplies of personal protective equipment. Staff are constantly being in-serviced on best practices in regard to infection control. We are proud of our staff and their dedication to the residents.

We respectfully request that all further inquiries be directed to the local Department of Public Health.

The health officer of Solano County says they have staff on the ground helping with infection control.

Two infected patients have been hospitalized and are in ICU.

They were able to move a handful of COVID positive residents to another nursing facility able to handle infected patients to ease the strain.

He says the rest need to shelter in place because the risk of moving even those who have tested negative is too great.

“They may appear to be negative today, but that won’t mean they won’t emerge disease within their incubation period. So moving them just transports the risk of COVID to other facilities as well,” Dr. Bela Matyas said.

Vallejo nursing home with 99 COVID-19 cases was cited for improper practice in 2019

KTVU Fox2 News, By Rob Roth, May 4, 2020

VALLEJO, Calif. – At the Windsor Vallejo Care Center, 76 patients and 23 health workers have now tested positive for COVID-19.

Of those 99 cases, one of those patients is 64-year-old Joseph Quirarte of Pacifica.

He’s had both legs amputated because of diabetes. Now he has tested positive for the cornavirus.

His two children, including a son, an army staff sergeant stationed in Germany, are worried and frustrated.

“It’s a helpless feeling. I want to help, but I am on a separate continent,” said Sgt, Joe Quirarte Jr. from his base in Germany.

Daughter Maria Quirarte lives closer to the facility, but like all family members of nursing home patients, is not allowed to visit.

“We’re worried the COVID is in his system and we don’t know how his body is going to react. We are trying to be cautious and make sure he gets his meds on time,” she said.

The virus has hit the facility like an avalanche. On Friday there were 34 cases reported.  Now it has almost tripled.

Solano County Public Health said it is working closely with the facility to manage the outbreak.

Quirarte’s family said his father had two roommates who also tested positive and were moved to another room, for which they are grateful.

“He’s had two amputated legs and a toilet that wasn’t working. He has since been moved from that room,” said Maria.

“You see the news stories about other facilities and just hope it won’t happen to your parent’s facility,” said Joe Jr.

State public health records show Windsor Vallejo was cited for improper infection control practices in March 2019.

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services gave the facility a rating of two stars out of five, base on health inspections and overall quality.

“Crucially, regulators have often given infection control pretty short shrift in terms of prioritizing inspections. And we are paying for it now,” says Michael Dark of the non-profit California. Advocates for Nursing Home Reform

To the Quirartes, the health care staff seems overwhelmed.

“We want to make sure they get the help they need to help our father, and others,” said Maria.

Management of Windsor Vallejo did not respond to our messages.

COVID-19 in Solano County – 53 new cases, one new death as of May 4


Monday, May 4th: 53 new cases, 1 new death, total now 320 cases, 6 deaths

Solano County Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Updates and Resources.  Check out basic information in this screenshot. IMPORTANT: The County’s interactive page has more.  On the County website, you can click on “Number of cases” and then hover over the charts for detailed information.

Previous report, Friday, May 1

(Note that 1 new case was added on Friday 5/1 AFTER the 4pm report was posted, raising Friday’s total to 267.)

Summary

Solano County reported 1 new case late on Friday and 53 NEW POSITIVE CASES over the weekend and Monday – total is now 3201 new death, total now at 6.

OVER THE WEEKEND:

  • 50 new cases were reported on Saturday 5/2
  • 3 new cases were reported on Sunday 5/3
  • No new cases were reported today, Monday 5/4
  • (Note also that 1 new case was added on Friday 5/1 AFTER the 4pm report was posted, raising Friday’s total to 267.)

BY AGE GROUP

  • No new cases of young persons under 19 years of age, total of 6 cases, less than 2% of the 320 confirmed cases.
  • 23 of today’s new cases were persons 19-64 years of age, total of 231 cases, 72%, of the total (down from 78% on Friday).   No new deaths, total of 2.  Note that only 31 of the 231 cases in this age group (13.4%) were hospitalized at one time.  (It is unclear whether the 2 deaths were ever hospitalized.)
  • 31 of today’s new cases were persons 65 or older, total of 83 cases, 26% of the total (up from 20% on Friday).
    Today’s 1 new death was a person in this age group, total now of 4.  Note that 22 of the 83 cases in this age group (only 26.5%, down from 40%, on Friday) were hospitalized at one time.  The percentage drop is surely due to the major increase of cases in the cluster outbreak at Windsor Vallejo Nursing Home, where most infected residents were evidently moved to a separate wing rather than to a hospital.  (It is unclear whether the 4 deaths in this age group were ever hospitalized, nor whether any came from Windsor Vallejo.)

HOSPITALIZATIONS: 54 of Solano’s 320 cases resulted in hospitalizations, an increase of only 3 over the weekend.  Relatively good news – a small increase despite the big number of new cases.

ACTIVE CASES:  65 of the 320 are active cases, an increase of 15 over Friday’s total of 40.  The county does not report WHERE the active cases are.  Below you will see that only 14 are currently hospitalized, which leaves 51 of these 65 active cases out in our communities somewhere, and hopefully quarantined.

The County’s “Hospital Impact” graph shows 14 of the 54 hospitalized cases are CURRENTLY hospitalized, 3 more than on Friday.  The County’s count of ICU beds available and ventilator supply remains at “GOOD” at 31-100%. (No information is given on our supply of test kits, PPE and staff.)

CITY DATA

  • Vallejo added 50 of today’s 53 (54) new cases, total of 175.
  • Fairfield added 1 new case, total now at 61.
  • Vacaville added 1 new case, total now at 36.
  • Suisun City remains at 16.
  • Benicia added 2 new cases, total now at 16.
  • Dixon, Rio Vista and “Unincorporated” are still not assigned numerical data: today all remain at <10 (less than 10).  Note that the numbers for other cities add up to 304, leaving 16 cases located somewhere among the locations in this “<10” category (same number as last reported).  Residents and city officials have pressured County officials for city case counts.  Today’s data is welcome, but still incomplete.

TESTING

The County reports that 5,160 residents have been tested as of today.  This is an increase of 1,061 residents over the 3 days since Friday’s total of 4,099.  That is only an average of just over 350 per day, about the same as on last Friday, but much better than Thursday when we added only 37 and Wednesday only 106.  We are still not up to the earlier times when the County reported daily increases of 505 and 438 new tests.  Testing numbers need to be much higher!  We have a long way to go: only 1% of Solano County’s 447,643 residents (2019) have been tested.

Solano’s upward curve in cumulative cases – as of May 4

The chart above shows Saturday’s big jump in the infection’s trajectory in Solano County.  We may be seeing a flattening of the overall curve, but our nursing homes bear watching!  (And I haven’t heard anything about Solano County jails….)

Still incredibly important – everyone stay home and be safe!