Both nursing homes and assisted-living facilities are being included in the new state mandate that all residents and staff at long-term care facilities in Mississippi be tested for the new coronavirus.
The order Thursday by Gov. Tate Reeves is being greeted with approval by those who manage Leflore County’s long-term care facilities.
The COVID-19 testing will be conducted over the next two weeks.
It’s likely that much of the testing will be handled free of charge by the state Department of Health with assistance from the Mississippi National Guard.
Golden Age nursing home and the assisted-living residence Indywood Glen had signed up for the state service by the end of the day Friday.
In Leflore County, 50% of deaths related to the virus have been associated with long-term care facilities, as have been 75% in Carroll County. In Mississippi, 47% of the COVID-19 deaths have been connected to the facilities.
At Country Meadow Personal Care Home, Indywood and Golden Age, the administrators gave the plans for testing a thumbs-up.
“The health and well-being of our residents and staff is priority one,” said Nay Reed, Golden Age’s administrator.
“I think it is a good idea,” said Sharon Harvey, Indywood’s owner.
Danny Edwards, who co-owns Country Meadow, had similar thoughts: “We are 100 percent for testing all workers and all residents at long-term care facilities.”
Indywood and Country Meadow have not had an outbreak of the virus among their employees and residents, their owners said. Last month at Golden Age, a resident tested positive, was quarantined and was retested. After test results twice came back negative, the resident was returned to the general population at the nursing home.
Reed said Friday that an off-duty employee self-reported receiving positive results from a COVID-19 test. “The employee felt exposure outside of the work environment might have been a possibility and personally sought testing,” Reed said.
The employee has not worked there since May 6 and had exhibited no symptoms. All of Golden Age’s residents and their immediate families were notified.
At another Greenwood nursing home, Crystal Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center, “eight more patients resolved their illness today, meaning they took two tests with negative results.We are expecting more resolved cases,” said Joe Gimenez, a spokesperson for Nexion Health Inc., which has 42 affiliated nursing homes in four states. On Friday, Crystal also had 23 residents remaining positive, 19 pending and 43 with negative test results.
“Our goal from the beginning has been for testing of all our residents and all our employees. Nothing else would make us happier than more extensive testing,” Gimenez said.
“Testing enables better grouping of residents within facilities. It helps prevent transmission among patients. Greater testing efforts will enable us to focus our most intensive labor and dedicate scarce personal protective equipment on those with COVID-19.”
Harvey received an email Friday from the health department that offers the options of selecting the free service from the state or contracting with a private lab. Long-term care facilities that have participated in facilitywide testing of both staff and residents since the end of March were told they do not have to participate, just make sure the health department has received documentation.
The email includes a heads up: “Keep in mind that if a new outbreak occurs or additional requirements are made, we may schedule additional testing for your facility.”
•Contact Susan Montgomery at 581-7241 or smontgomery@gwcommonwealth.com.
