MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP) — Employees at the Iowa Veterans Home have been disciplined more than 20 times for personal protective equipment lapses that potentially exposed residents and staff to coronavirus.
Commandant Timon Oujiri says the strict approach to requiring masks and other equipment when interacting with residents and colleagues has helped keep coronavirus largely out of the state’s biggest nursing home.
He says 25 employees and seven residents have tested positive since the beginning of the pandemic and all have recovered.
Oujiri says he considers that a major success, noting that the Marshalltown home has 456 residents and 900 employees.
Nineteen employees have been suspended or reprimanded for potentially exposing residents or staff, and two others were fired during their probationary periods.