A patient of Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to multiple employees and families of patients at the facility.
BeaverCountian.com was first notified today by an employee of the facility that a patient in section 4 East had contracted COVID-19.
“Nursing staff was told by their unit director that they do have at least one confirmed case,” said the employee, who is not being named because they are not authorized to speak with the press.
Soon after, multiple family members of patients began telling BeaverCountian.com they were receiving phone calls from the facility notifying them a patient had tested positive.
“I was told the patient has been moved to the hospital and that everything everywhere in the building is under quarantine,” said one family member, who spoke on condition they not be named. “They said they are disinfecting everything and they are optimistic it hasn’t spread.”
Another family member said that staff at the facility “told (them) that they felt their measures had successfully contained the infection.”
Beaver County Commissioners told BeaverCountian.com they were also aware of the situation.
The nursing home had already implemented a building-wide preventative quarantine as of March 12 that prohibited family and non-essential individuals from entering the facility.
It is unclear how the patient may have contracted the virus.
BeaverCountian.com called the center at about 3:30 this afternoon. After holding, the woman who had answered the phone came back and answered, “Thank you for holding. We do not have a comment at this time.” Then she hung up.
Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center is a 589 bed nursing home located in Brighton Township. The nursing home was formerly known as “Friendship Ridge” when it was publicly owned by Beaver County, which sold the facility in 2013 to the for-profit Comprehensive Healthcare Management Services. The nursing home participates in both medicare and medicaid funding for patients.
Public health officials have expressed significant concern about the impact COVID-19 could have in nursing facilities across the nation. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), adults 65 years and older are at higher risk for suffering severe illness from the virus. The CDC estimates 31-70 percent of infected adults ages 85 and older require hospitalization, with 31-59 percent of adults ages 65-84 years old needing hospitalized.
Medicare gives Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness an overall facility rating of “below average”, with a heath inspection rating of “much below average.” It is also listed as “below average” for staffing levels, but does enjoy the a positive benchmark of “much above average” for quality of care.
BeaverCountian.com contributing editor Lori Boone contributed to this report.
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