Nursing homes on LI saying little about COVID-19 patients as death toll rises
This story was reported by Jim Baumbach, David Schwartz, Robert Brodsky and Paul LaRocco. It was written by Schwartz.
As deaths at nursing homes and assisted living complexes on Long Island rose by nearly 200 in three days, most facilities refuse to publicly disclose positive COVID-19 cases and deaths.
Newsday this week emailed or called 79 nursing homes and 95 assisted living facilities on Long Island, asking for their numbers of positive cases and deaths. Fully 152 of the 174 residences declined to provide specific data or didn’t respond.
Residents and family members say they are struggling to get information from within residences that have been closed to visitors for a month. Even residents say they're kept in the dark.
From inside St. Catherine of Siena Nursing & Rehabilitation Care Center in Smithtown, Dottie McKinnon, 79, of Brentwood, described a climate of worried staff members and fearful residents amid scant information.
“They won’t talk to you,” she said by phone Thursday. “It’s not easy at all.”
Instead, she can only speculate when another resident has died. When staff shuts her door, she believes a body is being wheeled through the hallway. She says this has happened about 20 times over the last month.
“Every time our doors close, we know somebody passed away,” McKinnon said.
A spokeswoman for Catholic Health did not return a request for comment.
Family members are also struggling to get information.
“They were not transparent,” said Steven Saltzman, whose 91-year-old father Robert died last week at Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care and Rehabilitation in New Hyde Park. “They were not forthcoming.”
Saltzman said he learned his father showed mild coronavirus symptoms on April 10 and was dead a day later.
“There is so much miscommunication,” he said. “It’s just not a way to treat older people.”
A representative for the facility declined to discuss Saltzman’s care, citing privacy laws.
The largest to provide data in response to Newsday's survey was Atria, a Louisville, Kentucky-based chain that operates 10 assisted living communities on Long Island.
There have been 17 deaths at its South Setauket facility, eight deaths at Great Neck, three in East Northport and one each in Plainview and Huntington, as of Tuesday. Five facilities had no deaths. Atria said it already has been reporting fatalities to the families of residents in emailed notices whenever new cases or deaths occur.
“We believe in being as transparent as possible with what’s happening and all we’re doing to help protect those who live and work in our communities,” John Hartmayer, Atria senior vice president, wrote in a statement.
Bonnie Arnesen, 61, of Locust Valley, said her initial reaction to the wave of coronavirus cases at the South Setauket facility was “terror.” Her 91-year-old mother, Alma Juliber, lives there.
Arnesen said she was appreciative of the flow of information from Atria, even as each note came bearing more news of the virus spreading throughout the facility.
The assisted living facilities that declined to provide the number of fatalities range from The Bristal Assisted Living, which has a population of 2,300 at 17 locations across to Long Island, to smaller operations such as the 26-bed senior care facility Olsen Rest Home in Nesconset.
A spokesman for The Bristal Assisted Living, Gary Lewi, said “approximately 2.7%” of its population — which amounts to 62 people — “are currently hospitalized due to COVID-19 symptoms.”
This week, the state began releasing county-by-county data about deaths at nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
As of April 14, there were 2,477 deaths in nursing homes and 583 deaths in adult assisted living facilities. That’s more than 26% of the total deaths in the state.
There had been 345 deaths in Nassau facilities and 334 deaths in Suffolk facilities.
Those fatalities represent 51% of Suffolk's total of 653 through Wednesday and 33% of Nassau's total of 1,057.
Nursing home and assisted living deaths reported statewide rose from 2,438 on Sunday, to 2,722 on Monday and 3,066 on Tuesday. On Long Island, the number of fatalities went from 497 on Sunday to 570 on Monday and 679 on Tuesday.
The state has delayed releasing data by nursing facility citing concern about patient privacy. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Thursday the state would release additional data.
