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COVID recovery homes to open as half of all nursing homes see infection

Connecticut will stand up four COVID-positive nursing homes. They are working with Athena Healthcare. Two of them are existing nursing homes.

Nursing home infections continue to rise at an alarming rate.  After a delay, the state now says they are finally implementing a plan to stop the spread. Nursing home outbreaks have been the focus of national news. 42 people recently died in Richmond Virginia. 24 died at a nursing home in Indiana, and just across the state line in Holyoke, Massachusetts 38 people have died at an all Veterans nursing home where a federal investigation has been launched. 

Here in Connecticut, the state has begun cohorting COVID-19 positive residents together. 

Here’s what we know. Connecticut will stand up four COVID-positive nursing homes. They are working with Athena Healthcare. Two of them are existing nursing homes. Two of them are recently shuttered nursing homes that will be reopened.

COVID Recovery Homes:

  • Sharon Healthcare Center in Sharon, 88 beds
  • Northbridge Healthcare Center in Bridgeport, 145 beds
  • Torrington Health & Rehabilitation in Torrington, 126 beds
  • Westfield Healthcare in Meriden, 60 beds
  • Total beds = 419

"We’ve been working with the state and the National Guard to make sure the buildings are outfitted in Meriden and Torrington locations to get those up and running," explained Tim Brown, the spokesperson for Athena Healthcare Systems. 

Barbara Cass of the state Department of Public Health told FOX61 that if more space is needed they'll find it. "We are moving forward with looking at other capacity as well so other alternate care sites may come online."

Residents at those homes who don’t have COVID may need to be relocated depending on the need for beds. 

"Right now we are only moving residents in Northbridge and Sharon within the building. We’re not doing a mass discharge of our residents. They are moving to another floor within the building," said Brown.

According to the state, as of Sunday, 49% nearly half of all of CT’s 215 nursing homes had at least one case of COVID. One of the hot spots we’ve been telling you about is Golden Hill Rehab in Milford. They’ve declined repeated requests for interviews but responded through a public relations firm after FOX61 brought family concerns to the Governor.

RELATED: Nearly 1,000 new positive COVID-19 cases, just under 500 deaths in CT

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RELATED: Gov. Lamont speaks on Connecticut's nursing homes and unemployment issues

Golden Hill claims Lou Jackson’s wife Barbara brought COVID into their facility.  

“The medical evidence demonstrates that this Resident contracted COVID-19 elsewhere and brought the pandemic into Golden Hill,” they said in a package sent to FOX61. 

"Meaning my wife brought it in," said Jackson. "I said technically it’s possible but I said your facility is the prime suspect."

And after presenting signed statements from staff as evidence, Golden Hill called Lisa B’s claim that her mother was not given proper PPE upon visiting her dying husband, “completely false.” Lisa B maintains that it is true. "They allowed her to wear the mask that she had on from home they did not put her in an N95 mask...The other concern was that Golden Hill did not instruct my mother in the proper removal of PPE...My mother actually took the PPE home with her and accidentally wore the shoe covers into her home."

This week the state of Connecticut said they’d finally be compiling infection rates for each nursing home. That follows a report that showed that about 1/3rd of all the COVID-19 deaths in CT come from nursing homes. Once they do that, we will show you the infections.

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