Salem Transitional Care (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
Government health officials and company executives are providing little information about the cause of Salem’s worst outbreak of COVID-19 at a nursing home, detected by what they say was intensified testing of all residents.
Salem Transitional Care, a rehabilitation and nursing facility owned by Wilsonville-based Avamere, had 26 residents or employees who have tested positive for the virus as of May 3, according to a state report released May 5, with three deaths. The state won’t release updated statistics on nursing home cases until Tuesday, May 12.
Salem Transitional Care now ranks as having the fifth-highest count of infections among senior facilities in Oregon. The number of reported cases among those living or working at the south Salem home tripled in a week, according to state figures.
Brad Little, an Avamere division president, said in email Friday that the care center recently expanded testing of staff without symptoms and all residents to detect and slow the spread of the virus.
As of Friday, eight residents with COVID-19 remained isolated in private rooms and 28 who were negative for COVID-19 are being housed in a separate wing, Little said.
The state’s count of people testing positive is higher because it includes employees, as well as residents who have since recovered or have died.
Elisa Williams, spokeswoman for the state Department of Human Services’ aging and long-term care division, said the regulatory agency has seen the number of cases at other facilities increase quickly after companies tested large numbers of people.
A spokesman for Avamere said that employees at the Salem center who tested positive for COVID-19 are self-isolating, and staff continue to wear face masks inside the building, as are residents when they leave rooms.
The facility first reported to the state on March 24 that an employee or resident had tested positive, Williams said. The state by order then imposed more strict rules designed to limit the spread of disease, including not admitting new residents, notifying families of the outbreak, ending group meals and activities, moving residents to private rooms when possible and immediately reporting any new confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases.
Such restrictions are standard for any facility regulated by the state with suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19, Williams said.
Avamere has been under restrictions since late February, as have other facilities, a company spokesman said in an email. The company has restricted visitation and screened staff to protect residents, patients and employees while proactively testing for COVID-19 in the facility.
Williams said that order was lifted on April 3 once the home met state criteria, which include having no additional residents or staff testing positive for COVID-19, and no one with similar symptoms or pending test results.
On April 24, the home reported additional cases to DHS and again faced a state order to again impose restrictions, which are still in effect.
Nursing homes and senior facilities with confirmed cases of COVID-19 are inspected weekly by state regulators to ensure compliance, Williams said.
The agency has not yet disclosed reports from those inspections of the Salem center or documentation showing what steps led them to lift the first order on April 3. Williams referred questions about the timing and cause of the second outbreak to Oregon Health Authority and Marion County’s health department.
Oregon Health Authority spokesman Jonathan Modie said he could not provide a more detailed timeline of when new cases were reported over the week the facility saw a sharp increase.
Katrina Rothenberger, Marion County’s health department director, said health workers reached out after the facility’s first case to share information from the Oregon Health Authority, and to provide details on obtaining personal protective equipment.
She said her agency contacted the care center after the recent outbreak and subsequently supplied N95 masks, face shields, coveralls, bottles of hand sanitizer and 200 gowns.
“This is an ongoing conversation throughout the process,” she said.
Most Salem Transitional Care employees are represented by SEIU Local 503, but spokesman Ben Morris said the union wasn’t provided details about the outbreak and wasn’t notified when members tested positive for COVID-19.
He said the union can’t detail specifically how the virus spread inside, but said in general, nursing homes across Oregon have “really struggled” to get enough protective equipment to care for residents until a week or two ago.
On Friday, the union released a set of policy proposals to reform long-term care in the wake of the pandemic, calling for better access to protective equipment and more widespread testing availability for workers.
Saphara Harrell contributed reporting.
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