Updated: Lexington nursing home defends COVID-19 response after 25 resident deaths
Lexington reported three new deaths Thursday morning from a nursing home with a string of COVID-19 fatalities.
While the city’s death toll climbed to 66, there were also 123 new COVID-19 infections reported, increasing the city’s total to 6,684. Less than half of the new cases — 57 — were University of Kentucky students who have had more than 1,000 infections since early August.
All the new deaths were residents at Pine Meadows, a long-term care facility that has now lost 25 residents to COVID-19. The toll is among the highest for Kentucky nursing homes, according to the state Department for Public Health. Currently, the facility has about 14 active cases among residents and eight among staff out of about 158 who have previously tested positive for the virus.
Pine Meadows said its primary concern is the health of its residents and staff, and the facility has enhanced infection-control protocols to restrict non-medically necessary visits, screen employees and residents for symptoms and high temperatures, isolate those with symptoms and avoid group activities where possible. Visitors are allowed only in “end-of-life situations.”
“We are in regular communication with local and state health authorities,” said Pine Meadows’ spokesman Dan Kramer. “We will continue to follow the guidance they have provided us for infection control to limit risk to residents and staff.”
Pine Meadows’ handling of COVID-19 prompted the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department to ask them to take in more COVID-19 patients for other acute and long-term care providers in the community. But Kevin Hall, spokesman for the health department, said taking in more COVID-19 patients was Pine Meadows’ idea.
“They approached us with the idea and we were OK with it as long as they followed the CDC guidance,” Hall said. “This was relatively recent, within the last couple weeks.”
Pine Meadows, a private for-profit facility, complied with coronavirus regulations as of July, according to a COVID-19 survey taken by the Office of the Inspector General. Those regulations require an infection prevention and control program and precautions to avoid spreading the virus.
The nursing home’s response to the pandemic has been satisfactory for Bill Watkins, a Danville resident whose 97-year-old great-grandmother lives at the facility. Watkins’ great-grandmother contracted the virus, he said, but she had no underlying conditions and was able to return to Pine Meadows after she recovered.
“Since the lockdowns, we have been unable to go inside the facility but (there) has never been an issue with the cleanliness or the staff at Pine Meadows,” Watkins said.
Watkins said he initially thought the isolation protocols were “overkill.” But after his great-grandmother recovered, he said Pine Meadows is taking the right steps. One wing of the nursing home is reserved for residents who test positive and need to isolate, and residents are tested every day, Watkins said.
Pine Meadows was rated poorly in 2019 by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which gave the nursing home an “average” health inspection rating, a “below average” staffing rating, and a “much below average” quality measures rating, which analyzes patient care and outcomes in several areas.
Pine Meadows has been sued twice this year by plaintiffs acting on behalf of former residents who have since died, according to court records. The deaths appear unrelated to COVID-19. One lawsuit filed in Fayette Circuit Court last month alleged that Pine Meadows couldn’t “provide the minimum standard of care to the weak and vulnerable residents,” according to a petition filed in circuit court.
The lawsuit was filed by Leland Craig Cross, administrator of a former Pine Meadows resident’s will. The lawsuit alleged that “wrongful conduct” from Pine Meadows caused the resident to suffer a rib fracture and a subdural hematoma, septic shock and ultimately death, according to court records. The lawsuit accused Pine Meadows of negligence and violation of long-term care resident rights, according to court records.
Pine Meadows hadn’t yet filed a response to Cross’ allegations.
Another lawsuit filed in March accused the nursing home of wrongful death, assault and negligence, according to court records. The lawsuit was filed by Bobby Fay Isaacs as the executrix for a former Pine Meadows resident, according to court records.
The lawsuit alleged that the nursing home’s failure to care for a resident resulted in falls, urinary tract infections, skin bruising and breakdowns, infections, hygiene issues, bilateral foot drop, sepsis and more, according to court records.
In its response to the March lawsuit, Pine Meadows denied the allegations and said those being sued didn’t own the facility when the resident moved into Pine Meadows in 2013, according to court records. The resident lived at Pine Meadows until January 2019, and died in March 2019, according to court records.
Lexington pushes residents to get flu shots amid COVID-19
COVID-19 may be more contagious than the flu, said Lexington health department spokesman Kevin Hall. But to deal with simultaneous threats, he and Mayor Linda Gorton this week advocated for residents to get their flu vaccinations.
In the first six months of the local COVID-19 outbreak, Fayette County has had more than 6,500 people test positive and more than 65 deaths. In comparison, Fayette County had 742 flu cases and three deaths from flu-related causes during the 2019-20 flu season, Hall said.
Gorton said a health provider recently reported the first known patient with positive flu and coronavirus results. Gorton speaks weekly with area hospitals and health care providers, she said.
The health department will hold its first drive-through flu vaccination clinic in early October, Hall said. More details about that clinic — targeting high-risk categories such as the elderly — will be released soon.
The health department hopes to have additional flu vaccination clinics in October, he said. Private pharmacies, doctors’ offices and health clinics will also soon have the flu shot, he said.
“We don’t care where you get it, we just want you to get a flu shot,” Hall said.
Mobile testing program moves to Yates Elementary
Meanwhile, the city’s mobile neighborhood COVID-19 testing program has moved to the Eastland Parkway and Bryan Station neighborhoods. Testing will be held at Yates Elementary School, 695 East New Circle Road.
Testing at Yates Elementary is available from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday. Testing will be available from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday. No appointment is necessary, according to the city.
Reporter Beth Musgrave contributed to this story.
This story was originally published September 10, 2020 at 9:26 AM.