Conn. to Reopen COVID-Only Care Home

Hartford Courant

With the number of coronavirus cases in nursing homes rising again, Connecticut officials have decided to reopen a COVID-19-only recovery center in Meriden to start treating infected residents in hopes of keeping the coronavirus from spreading through long-term care facilities.

“The state approached us about reopening the Westfield facility and we are planning to have it ready for sometime around Nov. 9,” Athena Healthcare Marketing Director Tim Brown said. "The difference this time is the building will not only take transfers of patients from hospitals but also directly from nursing homes who may only have one or two cases.”

Brown said state officials have said there are now 35 nursing homes with at least one COVID-19 positive resident and the plan will be to try and move residents from homes with only a few cases to keep the virus from spreading and limit infections and fatalities.

Initially there will be enough staff to handle 30 patients, but there are 90 beds available if needed. The facility was closed on June 30, but most of the equipment that would be needed to reopen it is already there. Athena needs time to hire staff and restock PPE.

The Westfield nursing home facility was one of four COVID-19 recovery centers that Athena operated for the state during the height of the pandemic but it was sparsely occupied. By the time state officials reopened it, many providers had decided to just treat residents in their own facilities.

Westfield and another vacant nursing home in Torrington were retrofitted by the state Department of Public Health and Connecticut National Guard and run by Athena. In addition, two existing Athena nursing homes - the Northbridge Healthcare Center in Bridgeport and Sharon Health Center - also took in COVID-19 patients.

The COVID recovery centers were considered successful in saving lives. Athena found that there was a 10-1 ratio of survivors to deaths in the COVID facilities compared to a 3-1 ratio in regular long-term care facilities.

The state paid Athena an extra $600 per COVID patient to cover the costs of purchasing PPE and paying staff higher wages for working with all COVID patients.

There have now been 2,944 COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes since the pandemic began in March, about 64 percent of the total deaths in the state. If coronavirus deaths in assisted living facilities are included, it totals about 72 percent of all deaths.

COVID-19 positive residents from assisted living facilities also will also be accepted at the Meriden facility.

During the week of Oct. 20-27, there were 85 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 19 deaths among the state’s 214 nursing homes, according to the weekly state Department of Public Health data released Friday. Last week, there were 71 cases and 15 deaths. Two weeks ago the death total was only five.

The positive cases among long-term care staff also are going up. There were 92 infections this week, compared to 85 last week and 57 the week before.

After the pandemic tore through facilities last Spring, the state significantly curbed the spread in nursing homes by increasing testing of both residents and staff, better separation of infected patients and increasing the availability of PPE.

But recent outbreaks in Avon and Colchester, where a combined 28 people have died and nearly 100 have been infected, has reminded state officials how quickly the virus can spread through a congregate setting with an elderly population.

Last week acting-Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Deidre Gifford issued an order requiring all long-term care staff to be tested weekly. Reopening the COVID-19 recovery center is the state’s next move and many providers were informed of the plan on a conference call late last week.

“The idea is to open up Meriden and provide a relief valve for nursing homes across the state,” Brown said.

There haven’t been discussions yet about reopening the Torrington facility, although Brown said it wouldn’t take long to bring that one back online as well if needed. Athena has made it clear they do not plan on using Northbridge and Sharon as COVID centers again.