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Families outraged after COVID-19 cluster is uncovered at a Milford nursing home

Families are saying it’s spreading like wildfire and they say they haven’t been told how it’s being handled.

MILFORD, Conn. — FOX61 has uncovered another hot spot of COVID-19 in the state. It’s inside a longterm care facility in Milford. Families are saying it’s spreading like wildfire and they say they haven’t been told how it’s being handled. Families are understandably upset. 

They are largely cut off from their loved ones due to the visitor restrictions. They say the state, the facility, and Milford town officials haven’t been communicating well about what’s going on inside.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” said Keisha Johnson of Bridgeport. “That’s my reason for contacting you so maybe you can get some answers.”

So that’s what FOX61 did. FOX61 uncovered the COVID cluster at a longterm care facility in Milford. But siting health privacy laws, neither the state, Milford Mayor or the Public Health Director would confirm which facility is the hot spot or how many cases are in that facility.

Milford Health Director Deepa Joseph said, “I would recommend that families who have questions and who are not able to get the information from the facility that they call DPH licensing facility investigations.” 

Joseph would only say that confirmed nursing home cases are lumped into aggregate town by town numbers. Which right now, Milford stands at 23 infections.

But that doesn’t jive with what Keisha Johnson of Bridgeport was told. She got shocking news Wednesday that her 65-year-old uncle, Johnny Johnson, died of COVID at Golden Hill Pavillion in Milford. She was never told that he was even sick. 

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“I was just informed that my uncle passed yesterday from this COVID virus. We were never informed that he was sick. We were never informed that he was ill. We went yesterday to try and get some answers from the facility to talked to the director to get some answers. At that time, we found out there there were 37 people who were infected at this place. There were four people in his room. All four people tested positive after he tested positive. They told us he had pneumonia. No one knew that. We did not receive a phone call,” said Johnson.

Golden Hill Pavilion Executive Director Andrew Wildman sent FOX61 a statement. “We have positive COVID-19 cases and are following all CDC protocols. We were the first in the State to stop all visitors and the first to start taking daily temperatures of our staff.”

As of the latest data, 57 of the states 213 nursing homes have at least 1 case of COVID-19. Something the state public health commissioner called, “extremely alarming.” 

Berry Webber of Tolland said, “You have concern. You have fear. Knowing there are some cases there you definitely worry. My mother is 96. In good health but still 96. The fear is always that she may get this and if she does, we can’t even be there with her.“ Webber’s mother is in the Evergreen nursing home in Stafford Springs where the states first nursing home related COVID cluster spread. “I just think that people need to be advocates for their parents and loved ones in facilities like this,” she said.

The state’s plan is to cohort COVID-positive residents together. They will designate entire nursing homes as COVID-positive facilities.  But more than a month into a quarantine, other facilities like Meadowbrook in Granby have managed to keep the virus outside their walls.

 “And were actually doing it,” said Sheena Postell. “So I’m really proud to say that it’s been really successful thus far.” Postell is a social worker at Meadowbrook. 

She told FOX61 that despite her positive attitude, she had moments where the pandemic is overwhelming. “I’m learning to learn new coping skills to deal with the day to day stuff that I’m doing at work and being ready to serve my families. It’s been tough. The last months has been tough, I lost sleep, my eating habits are all over the place. But, when I wake up in the morning I’m thankful to God for another day and another opportunity to help the residents and their families.“

And Sheena has a message for all our frontline heroes. “You guys got this. If you are an essential worker, do you the best that you can. That’s what you are there for. We are here to serve the people and help the people and also take a moment out for yourself. Make sure you recharge yourself so you can recharge others.”

And another bit of good news. The Governor’s budget office announced Friday that they’ll be reimbursing all 213 nursing homes by an extra 10% for any expenses they incur related to COVID-19. We will continue to stay on top of this important story.

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