The names of 38 nursing homes in Wisconsin where there are active public health investigations due to an outbreak of COVID-19 were released Wednesday by the Department of Health Services.
Wisconsin DHS Secretary-designee Andrea Palm said in a statement that the names were released “in order to provide peace of mind to families who cannot visit or check on their loved ones during these unprecedented times.” Previously, the department only listed how many investigations into nursing homes were ongoing, but did not name any facilities.
“As we continue to see cases of COVID-19 in nursing homes, it is important to be transparent and list the locations where they are occurring,” Palm said.
Outbreaks at nursing homes have been a particular concern because older people are more susceptible to the virus, which can be easily spread where many people live close to one another. As of Wednesday, there were nearly 11,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Wisconsin and there had been 421 deaths, the state health department reported.
It only takes one case of a resident or staff member testing positive at a nursing home to spur a public health investigation. The department said the list of facilities with ongoing investigations will be updated every Wednesday.
Nursing homes with active public health investigations in Northeast Wisconsin as of May 13 include:
Brown County: Grancare Nursing Center and Odd Fellows Nursing Home
Outagamie County: St. Paul Elder Services
Sheboygan County: Rocky Knoll Health Care Center and Sunny Ridge
The total number of facility-wide investigations are:
Brown County: 47
Outagamie County: 10
Sheboygan County: 4
NBC 26 spoke with representatives of each of the Northeast Wisconsin facilities regarding the investigations:
Brittany Cobb, the Administrator of Grancare Nursing Center, said a staff member tested positive on April 27. They quarantined at home and since resolved all symptoms. All residents and staff were tested April 29, and all tests came back negative. No residents or staff are currently showing any symptoms.
The CEO of Odd Fellows Nursing Home, Charlene Everett, said there are no active cases. The facility had a small number of staff members test positive, but have since recovered. All residents have been tested and results were negative. The facility is in the process of preparing a unit designed to take residents who are recovering from COVID-19, but the inspection process has not yet been completed.
Sondra Norder, President/CEO St. Paul Elder Services, said one staff person tested positive more than three weeks ago. It was acquired by community spread in the Green Bay area, not from working in the facility, and they have since recovered. Three dozen residents and staff members were tested and all tests came back negative. Norder said she is confident there was no further spread beyond the one staff person.
Kayla Clinton, Administrator of Rocky Knoll Health Care Center, said a contracted vendor tested positive on April 25, was placed into isolation and has since recovered. The vendor had no contact with residents or employees, and there have been no subsequent positive cases from that one known positive case.
Colinda Nappa, the executive director for Sunny Ridge, said there was a coronavirus outbreak in early April with 10 residents and 9 staff having confirmed COVID-19 cases. On Thursday, if the facility successfully completes a second 14-day cycle of no coronavirus symptoms, the facility's outbreak will be considered to be over.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
