OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — The number of cases and deaths from the coronavirus continues to grow at the Life Care Center of Elkhorn, and the facility announced all patients who originally tested negative are going to be retested.
The total number of cases has now grown to 88, with 3 more residents and one more staff member testing positive. There are now 60 patients and 28 staff members who have tested positive.
This month,the 3 News Now Investigators discovered that the facility has been cited for major violationsin 2018 and 2019 by the federal agency that oversees long-term care facilities, and the facility was fined more than $60,000.
In another report, a woman who says she had been inside the facility recently showed us pictures she took that seem to show staff members not wearing proper personal protection equipment while interacting with residents.
Below is the latest statement from Life Care of Elkhorn:
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In consultation with both state and county health agencies, we will be retesting all residents who initially tested negative.
Overnight, we lost one more resident to the virus.
This is a difficult time for families, residents and our staff. At this point, there is no plan to move all patients out of the facility. However, any resident that develops acute symptoms will be transferred to a hospital for continued care. Each resident and the resident’s family have the freedom to make individual decisions on the best course of action for their loved one. If a family chooses, they may take their loved one out of our facility and care for them in their own home or place them in a different facility. Our staffing levels remain adequate to care for the number of residents currently in our facility. We are grateful for the additional help being provided by the state, the county and the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Together, we will continue to provide the best care we can for our residents.
Residents: Confirmed number of COVID-19-related deaths since April 27: 7 (+1)
Current number of residents: 60 (-1)
Total number of residents who have been tested: 79
Total number of residents who have tested positive since April 27: 60 (+3)
Current number of residents who have tested positive: Being cared for in local hospitals: 10
Being cared for on-site: 45 (+5)
Residents who have tested negative on-site: 13 (-7)
Employees: Number of employees on April 27: 140
Current number of employees out sick: 25
Total number of employees who have tested positive: 28 (+1)
Total number of employees who have tested negative: 59
Total number of employees who have returned to work: 2
Timeline: First received notification of a positive COVID-19 test related to our building: April 27, 2020
First resident sent to the hospital who later tested positive: May 8, 2020
First notification given to all residents/staff about positive COVID-19 test: April 28, 2020
Full testing of all residents: May 11, 2020
