What we know about Mississippi nursing homes with coronavirus outbreaks

More than a tenth of all residents of long-term care facilities in Mississippi have been infected by the coronavirus, killing more than 400 people, but the virus has not affected all nursing homes equally.

After months of public and media pressure and a lawsuit by the PineBelt News, the Mississippi Department of Health this week began releasing the names of nursing homes with active coronavirus outbreaks and the number of infections and deaths at each facility.

The numbers released Wednesday show that some nursing homes have so far kept residents safe from this invisible contagion. Other nursing homes have been overrun.

The data:What Mississippi nursing homes have coronavirus outbreaks? Here's the list

The federal government regularly inspects most long-term care facilities. Inspectors check whether nursing home employees are washing hands, using gloves, and sanitizing equipment.

A Clarion Ledger review of those records show that some of the nursing homes with the highest numbers of infections in Mississippi have had a history of not following proper infection safety guidelines. However, other nursing homes that repeatedly run afoul of those guidelines have so far avoided coronavirus infections.

Some nursing homes told the Clarion Ledger this week that the numbers released by the state don't tell the whole story.

The Crystal Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center in Greenwood, for instance, had no infection control policy for administering medication, federal inspectors found in 2019, which a spokesman said was later corrected.

That nursing home has had 61 cases of coronavirus and 16 deaths, according to state data as of Wednesday.

Nexion Health, the company that operates the Greenwood nursing home, runs 12 other nursing homes in Mississippi, some of which have had no cases or relatively few cases of coronavirus. Spokesman Joe Gimenez said the number of active infections in Greenwood is now down to 13.

"Hopefully you can see how the numbers today are different than the state report," Gimenez said in an email. "The numbers show that battles are being won but it is still a very infectious and challenging virus."

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Hattiesburg

Bedford Care is a family-owned company that operates eight long-term care facilities in Mississippi, three of which have active coronavirus outbreaks, according to the state data. Two of those three nursing homes — one in Newton County and one in Lauderdale County — have a few cases each.

State data shows the Bedford Care Center in Hattiesburg, as of Wednesday, has had more coronavirus cases, 92, and deaths, 25, than any other long-term care facility in the state.

"The hotspot in Hattiesburg can be wholly attributed to the nature of this silent virus, and not the care rendered at the facility," the nursing home said in a statement.

Federal inspectors with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services found in 2018 and 2019 that there were infection control deficiencies at the Hattiesburg nursing home. The 2019 report said a nurse administered medication using her bare hand. The 2018 report found the nursing home did not train another a nurse about infection control.

The nursing home said the deficiencies were "procedural and minor" and had been corrected before the pandemic.

The first confirmed coronavirus in Mississippi was in Hattiesburg on March 11. About a month later the Bedford Care Center in Hattiesburg had its first confirmed case, the nursing home said, and with many residents going to treatment at hospitals or for dialysis, "it would be impossible to pinpoint the source."

Once it the virus got in, it was too late.

The nursing home said it struggled to get tests initially, and some tests were taking seven to 10 days to get results.

"Nursing homes needed access to 2-hour test results," its statement said. "That would have made a huge difference in our ability to respond."

It was a struggle to get residents with dementia to wear a mask, wash their hands or socially distance, the statement said. 

The nursing home, which has had 55 employees test positive for coronavirus, said it struggled with staffing at times, but problem is being contained. The nursing home said the number of active cases among residents at the facility is now down to 22.

Kosciusko Veterans Home

The Mississippi VA is a state agency that runs four nursing homes for veterans across the state of Mississippi. 

Like most nursing homes, the Mississippi VA took immediate action at the outset of the pandemic to restrict access and protect residents, according to Executive Director Stacey Pickering. 

But the Veterans Home in Kosciusko shows just how potent a single case of coronavirus can be.

According to state data as of Wednesday, there have been 45 COVID cases there. Pickering said Thursday that 11 residents have died.

The state agency believes the outbreak can be traced to a single resident who had to visit a local hospital every few days for a regular treatment.

When a resident tested positive for coronavirus, Pickering said they tested every one in his wing of the building, and 17 tests came back positive.

“Once it starts spreading it’s a very difficult virus," Pickering said. "... Once it had got in, it had already spread through one of our hallways.”

At one point, 29 staff members had to stay home for two weeks to prevent infection, Pickering said, so the Mississippi VA turned to its federal counterpart and a private company to temporarily help with staffing.

The virus appeared to be totally contained at one point. The nursing home had gone nearly two weeks without a new positive test, but on the 12th day, Pickering said they got brutal news — six more residents had just tested positive.

As of Thursday, the facility had gone seven days without a new infection, Pickering said, and he's hopeful a sense of normalcy can return.

The agency is asking lawmakers for funds to hire chaplains who will help the veterans with their emotional and spiritual well-being, Pickering said, as many residents have grown depressed and anxious during the pandemic.

“That’s a long time to be isolated at that age,” he said.

Mississippi Choctaw

Mississippians who are of American Indian or Native Alaskan descent make up 0.6% of the state's population, but account for more than 4% of the state's COVID deaths.

Most of those who died were residents at the Choctaw Residential Center in Neshoba County, where COVID infected 66 people and killed 20, according to state data.

Administrator Gay Flake said in an email that the first case was discovered on April 21 after a resident went to the emergency room. The resident had gone to the emergency room for reasons unrelated to the coronavirus, Flake said, but got tested for the disease.

When the test came back positive, there were seven residents now exhibiting symptoms, Flake said, and six of them tested positive for coronavirus. At that point, mass testing on all employees and residents was conducted, he said. 

According to Flake, the Choctaw Residential Center is down to one case and every staff member but one is back at work.

Not every nursing home with COVID infection is listed

Shortly after the Mississippi Department of Health released the names of nursing homes with outbreaks, Edith Dzoole scanned the list, looking for Wisteria Manor in Clarke County. 

Wisteria Manor is not on the list, and the assisted living facility did not respond to a request for comment. According to Dzoole, both her parents were residents there, and COVID infected both of them.

On May 30, her father died from the virus at a hospital in Hattiesburg, she said. Louis McLendon had been a teacher for nearly four decades and drove the bus, Dzoole said. He was 77.

McLendon was on dialysis and an amputee, Dzoole said, but she didn't expect him to die so soon.

"My father had a strong will," she said.

Dzoole reached out to the Clarion Ledger, asking why Wisteria Manor was not included in the state's list.

Liz Sharlot, a spokeswoman for the Mississippi Department of Health, said the state is only releasing the names of long-term care facilities with active coronavirus outbreaks, meaning a nursing home that has not had an active case in 14 days will be left of the list.

Dzoole doesn't think that's right.

“For people who are looking to place their loved ones … if they read that list and based their actions on that information, they wouldn’t have a full picture,” Dzoole said. “... We need to know.”

Contact Giacomo "Jack" Bologna at 601-961-7282 or gbologna@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @gbolognaCL.