Area nursing homes dealing with COVID once again

HARTINGTON — Breakthrough COVID cases are taking place at skilled nursing facilities in the area and administrators are warning people to continue to take precautions even if they’ve been vaccinated.

Vaccinated staff and vaccinated residents are still contracting the virus which has led to increased testing and stricter policies on visitation, said Lindsay Hutchinson, administrator at Arbor Care Center in Hartington.

“It’s just crazy that we’re in this time frame again with people going to football games, concerts, major events, and it’s not helping the situation,” she said.

Nearly 80 percent of Arbor Care’s nursing home staff are vaccinated and 94 percent of its residents are. Even with that high percentage, the breakthrough COVID cases are occurring, forcing the facility to increase precautions including more routine COVID testing of residents and staff alike and more stringent visitor restrictions.

“It’s exhausting having to get tested regularly,” Hutchinson said. “We’re all ready for it to be over.”

Visits for nursing home residents can still occur but they have to be scheduled.

All visits had been shut down at Parkview Haven in Coleridge since Sept. 15 due to a rise in COVID cases in the community but visits were set to resume Wednesday, Sept. 29, said Administrator Nancy Mosel.

“We allowed for window visits and phone calls but they (residents) were definitely not happy about it,” Mosel said. “A lot of them were disgusted, saying “We have the shot. That’s the purpose of having the shot.’ ”

Mandatory masking and the visitor screening with a health questionnaire and temperature check remain in place.

Arbor Care’s assisted living has not seen an outbreak throughout the pandemic with all staff and its 11 residents vaccinated. The shutdown of visitors at Parkview Haven did not affect the Embers Assisted Living Center.

Assisted living facilities and nursing homes differ on federal and state regulations.

Hutchinson and Mosel said they’re awaiting guidance on receiving vaccine booster shots. With Pfizer the only company with a booster shot available, it complicates those who received their initial vaccine from a different manufacturer.

Both administrators said they’re impressed and grateful for all the efforts made by their staffs — often working overtime due to being short-staffed as well as completing all the extra duties required by COVID.

“The team is working hard to make sure we’re controlling COVID in the facility and getting it back out,” Hutchinson said.