A COVID-19 outbreak at a rehabilitation center is under investigation in Webster, according to town health officials.Fifty-one of the 58 residents of Brookside Rehabilitation and Healthcare have tested positive for COVID-19, and three patients have died since the week before Christmas, according to the Webster Director of Public Health Jennifer Sullivan. Six residents of the medium and long-term care facility have been hospitalized for a higher level of care and two residents who have tested negative have been released into the community, Sullivan said. The staff has “gone above and beyond any and all procedures and protocols since the beginning of this pandemic to ensure the well-being of their residents and staff,” Sullivan said in a statement, adding the center has been “vigilant on their staff trainings as a preventative, started testing weekly before there was a protocol to do so and they have even provided PPE for our first responders to ensure safety within the community.”Nursing Director Felicia O’Keeffe said the facility did not have a single COVID case for the first 10 months of the pandemic.“We don’t consider this an institution. We consider it a home. So, each and every positive hits each and every one of us like it’s our own family — and it’s devastating and heart-breaking,” she said.O’Keeffe said she believes the outbreak started when two of her nursing assistants caught the virus from family members at home then infected residents and co-workers. She said the first positive test results took four days to process, which she says slowed the center’s ability to respond.“Right now we’re just trying to keep as many of our staff as safe as possible and our residents as healthy as well,” O’Keeffe said. “We’re trying to keep them alive.”The staff receiving help from the National Guard and the Rapid Response Team to care for the residents.
WEBSTER, Mass. —
A COVID-19 outbreak at a rehabilitation center is under investigation in Webster, according to town health officials.
Fifty-one of the 58 residents of Brookside Rehabilitation and Healthcare have tested positive for COVID-19, and three patients have died since the week before Christmas, according to the Webster Director of Public Health Jennifer Sullivan.
Six residents of the medium and long-term care facility have been hospitalized for a higher level of care and two residents who have tested negative have been released into the community, Sullivan said.
The staff has “gone above and beyond any and all procedures and protocols since the beginning of this pandemic to ensure the well-being of their residents and staff,” Sullivan said in a statement, adding the center has been “vigilant on their staff trainings as a preventative, started testing weekly before there was a protocol to do so and they have even provided PPE for our first responders to ensure safety within the community.”
Nursing Director Felicia O’Keeffe said the facility did not have a single COVID case for the first 10 months of the pandemic.
“We don’t consider this an institution. We consider it a home. So, each and every positive hits each and every one of us like it’s our own family — and it’s devastating and heart-breaking,” she said.
O’Keeffe said she believes the outbreak started when two of her nursing assistants caught the virus from family members at home then infected residents and co-workers. She said the first positive test results took four days to process, which she says slowed the center’s ability to respond.
“Right now we’re just trying to keep as many of our staff as safe as possible and our residents as healthy as well,” O’Keeffe said. “We’re trying to keep them alive.”
The staff receiving help from the National Guard and the Rapid Response Team to care for the residents.