Beaufort County nursing homes have reported coronavirus cases. Here’s where they are
Four Beaufort County nursing homes and extended care facilities have confirmed cases of COVID-19 among residents or staff, South Carolina health officials announced this week.
The outbreaks at the facilities are small, with four cases identified at the Fraser Health Center on Hilton Head, three at National Healthcare Corporation’s Bluffton rehab facility and one each at The Cypress of Hilton Head Island and Beaufort Nursing and Rehab, according to data from the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, released late Tuesday.
At the 33-bed Fraser Health Center, part of The Seabrook of Hilton Head retirement community, the confirmed coronavirus cases “represent both residents and staff,” Seabrook Executive Director Rob Lee said in an email.
He said upon discovery of the positive cases, the facility has since taken “numerous measures to isolate and contain any further spread of the virus,” including extra screening for employees, isolating residents, and providing testing when signs or symptoms occur, according to Lee.
At The Cypress of Hilton Head Island, “one employee in the community” has tested positive, said Sandy Griffin-Bukoskey, the Cypress’ executive director, in an email.
Cypress has a dedicated nursing home, the Preston Health Center, inside its retirement community, and Griffin-Bukoskey said the employee “has zero contact” with residents in the nursing home.
She said the Cypress has taken more precautions since the outbreak of COVID-19, which include restricting visitors, taking the temperature of employees each time they exit and re-enter the community, and requiring them to wear masks while caring for residents.
NHC’s Bluffton rehab facility said they previously had three cases of coronavirus, two patients and one employee, according to an NHC spokesperson, but do not anymore.
The spokesperson said the employee left work to recover, following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.
Sandra Ferguson, the administrator at Beaufort Nursing and Rehab, formerly Bayview Manor, declined to comment.
Nursing homes at-risk as COVID-19 spreads
In South Carolina, the 135-bed Heartland Health and Rehabilitation Care Center in Hanahan, near Charleston, had the highest number of COVID-19 cases with 57 among staff and residents, according to state data.
Nearly one in 10 nursing homes across the country has reported cases of COVID-19, according to data collected by the Washington Post. That number is incomplete because several states have not released the names of facilities with cases.
DHEC did so one day after The State reported the agency was keeping secret the names of skilled nursing facilities with confirmed cases of the virus, and a week after Columbia attorney Desa Ballard sued the agency, seeking the list on behalf of a client.
The data from DHEC appears incomplete, as it includes only information collected since April 3 — about a month after the first coronavirus case was confirmed in the state. The COVID-19 cases in the facilities’ residents and staff make up just over 8% of the total cases confirmed in South Carolina since April 3.
A statewide organization that advocates for nursing home residents, among many other groups, said it has been checking on South Carolina facilities to make sure they have been following regulations to keep elderly residents safe.
State nursing homes are especially vulnerable to coronavirus because they often have a high number of people with weakened immune systems in the same place, said Anna Maria Conner, an attorney for Protection & Advocacy for People with Disabilities of South Carolina.
The pandemic has hit nursing homes particularly hard nationwide. Earlier this month, The Boston Globe reported that two in every five coronavirus-related deaths in Massachusetts came from the state’s long-term care facilities. Deaths in elderly care facilities nationwide topped 10,000 on Wednesday, according to a count done by the Wall Street Journal.
Some local facilities cited for infection-control violations
Almost 45 percent of the nursing homes with known COVID-19 cases in the Washington Post’s national analysis were cited repeatedly in recent years for breaking federal regulations designed to limit the spread of infectious disease to residents.
Three of the four facilities in Beaufort County with cases or located in a residential care community where residents or staff have tested positive have been cited for at least one infection-control violation during routine inspections since 2018. All of the violations were minor, rated as causing “minimal harm or potential for actual harm.” All of the facilities submitted plans to correct the deficiencies, according to records maintained by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette asked about these deficiencies and how facilities that had seen cases in residents or staff were preventing further spread of the virus.
Hilton Head’s Fraser Health Center was cited in 2018 for infection-control issues relating to water-quality monitoring and staff not using protective equipment while handling soiled laundry. Lee said all staff have been trained on proper use of protective gear; water testing has been completed periodically to ensure compliance, and the deficiencies were cleared with DHEC.
“We have been transparent with our families and residents of the broader Seabrook community,” executive director Lee said, referencing daily updates to community members.
Cases have not spread to independent living areas at Seabrook, and Fraser has not recorded any new infections this week, he said.
At The Cypress of Hilton Head Island, the only confirmed coronavirus case is an employee in the retirement community, according to Griffin-Bukoskey, and that person does not have contact with the 62-bed nursing home.
However, the Preston Medical Center did receive two inspection violations regarding programs in place to prevent resident infection and sickness, according to records maintained by CMS from recent years.
Since 2018, South Carolina nursing facilities received an average of about six total citations per inspection, according to CMS, and the violations documented at Cypress’ facility are relatively minor. Federal regulations require every long-term care facility to develop and maintain an infection-control and prevention plan.
The Preston Health Center was cited in 2017 for its laundry workers not washing their hands during the process of handling the soiled linens of residents. Additionally, the inspector’s report found that soiled linens were not placed in bags before reaching the laundry room. That meant if contaminants were present on the linens, they could have spread to the inside of the laundry cart, shared with clean laundry.
A 2018 inspection cited the facility again for not bagging soiled linens.
The Cypress community has a number of measures in place to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, according to its website. It says Cypress staff have designed a containment zone for coronavirus, stocked up with a 12-week supply of personal protective equipment and made preparations “to assist members in their own homes who develop COVID19,” as well as accept patients who test positive in the skilled nursing facility.
Nursing facilities had strict infection-control guidelines in place before the coronavirus outbreak, according to Conner, the advocacy lawyer.
“It’s not a new thing to wear gloves in a nursing home. It’s not a new thing to wash your hands,” she said. “Nursing homes have always been vulnerable. I hope staff members are used to doing those things more than a normal person.”
Other Beaufort County facilities revealed to have coronavirus cases have also had their infection-control measures flagged by regulators during recent inspections.
The 170-bed Beaufort Nursing and Rehab, formerly Bayview Manor, was cited by inspectors in 2018 for not flushing water heaters and failing to document nightly cleaning of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines, according to a CMS inspection report.
It has received 29 citations since late 2016 and was fined almost $7,300 in 2018 after an inspection found a resident’s hip was fractured during a transfer, among other deficiencies. The nursing assistant involved was terminated, according to the inspection report.
Ferguson, the administrator for the facility, declined to comment on the infection-control deficiencies or the nursing home’s COVID-19 cases.
NHC Healthcare’s 120-bed rehab facility in Bluffton had documented three COVID-19 cases among residents and staff but had not been cited for infection-control issues, according to CMS records. There are no current cases at NHC’s Bluffton location, a spokesperson said.
The NHC spokesperson said the facility is following guidelines from the CDC and CMS, “including proper hand-washing techniques, social distancing, and wearing masks, gowns and gloves when caring for any symptomatic patients.”
DHEC has said it will update its list of long-term care facilities with coronavirus cases twice weekly.
Conner said DHEC has capitulated on releasing this information after receiving pressure from the federal government for transparency. She said her organization will be watching to make sure nursing homes are protecting residents because the danger is real.
“Just to be in a nursing home, you require up to eight hours of skilled nursing care every day. Your body is already medically compromised,” said Conner. “A virus can be an extreme threat for you.”
To view and compare inspection reports from nursing homes nationwide use ProPublica’s Nursing Home Inspect tool or Kaiser Health News’ database of facilities cited for infection-control violations. CMS also rates nursing homes based on several categories on its website.
This story was originally published April 23, 2020 at 12:32 PM.
