An image of the coronavirus from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A residential care facility in south Salem saw seven people die from Covid in the last week and now has the second highest number of active infections at a long-term care facility in Oregon, according to a state report released Wednesday.
Brookstone Alzheimer’s Special Care Center on 5881 Woodside Dr. S.E. saw nine additional residents or staff test positive in the last week, bringing the total to 64. Eight people have died, making it the deadliest outbreak at a care facility in Marion County.
Last week Brookstone had 55 cases reported and one death in the Oregon Health Authority’s weekly accounting of Covid cases at long-term care facilities. Brookstone is licensed for 57 beds.
The facility was cited on Tuesday, June 30 for failing to comply with infection control recommendations made by Department of Human Services and the Oregon Health Authority.
“The facility has not complied, and staff/residents continue to be at risk,” the DHS notice reads. The agency has not yet provided copies of inspection reports in response to a public records request from Salem Reporter made last week.
Brookstone first reported a case to the DHS’ aging and long-term care office on June 8. Three days later, the agency put the facility under an executive order with more restrictive guidelines like not admitting new residents and moving residents to private rooms when possible.
Brookstone administrator Brandy Khlystov said the facility is doing everything it can to stop the spread of the virus, including restricting all non-essential personnel and reviewing and updating its infection prevention and control plans.
“We are in very close communication with local and state health officials to ensure we are taking the appropriate steps at this time. Our staff and residents are following the recommended preventative actions, we are continuing to restrict visitors from entering our facility, each staff member is screened when he/she reports to their shift; our team is also closely monitoring all of our residents for symptoms of COVID-19 until the virus has been eradicated,” Khlystov said in an email.
In the last year, the facility has been cited four times for neglect, most recently for failing to protect a resident from another.
Marion County’s nursing homes have been particularly hard hit by the virus, accounting for nearly half of all deaths countywide.
Four other area nursing homes have active outbreaks.
Boone Ridge Senior Living has three cases, The Springs at Willow Creek has 18 cases, Avamere Court at Keizer has one case and Hidden Lakes Independence Living has three cases.
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Have a story tip? Contact reporter Saphara Harrell at 503-549-6250, [email protected] or @daisysaphara.
