MINNEAPOLIS _ At least 12 residents of a large senior care community in New Hope, Minn., have died of the novel coronavirus, representing one of the state's deadliest outbreaks of the respiratory illness at a single site so far in the pandemic.
St. Therese of New Hope, which includes a 258-bed nursing home with a troubled regulatory record, said it is working closely with the state Department of Health on a response to the outbreak. The campus also includes independent and assisted-living residences.
The residents who passed away were between 82 and 96 years old, according to death records reviewed by the Star Tribune.
The first two deaths happened April 6. Most residents died from pneumonia and other respiratory complications caused by COVID-19, the disease that has killed more than 45,000 people nationwide.
The nonprofit organization that runs the senior facility has begun to quarantine all infected residents on a single unit and has instructed staff to treat all residents known to be exposed to the virus as if they could be infected. Employees are being screened for signs of the illness before each shift, the facility said in a statement.
Nursing homes across the nation have been under lockdown for weeks to protect their frail and elderly residents, but a wave of deadly outbreaks has raised concerns about whether the preventive measures go far enough. Of the 179 known deaths from the coronavirus in Minnesota, at least 113 are linked to long-term care facilities such as St. Therese, state health officials said.
In a statement, St. Therese said it initiated "aggressive infection control measures and proactive screening" March 13 to limit the spread of COVID-19. These steps include closing its building to all visitors, restricting congregate gatherings and increased sanitation of common areas. Staff are instructed wear masks and personal protective equipment "during close interaction," according to the statement.
A spokeswoman for St. Therese declined to disclose the number of residents and staff at the facility who have tested positive for COVID-19. St. Therese created a "COVID-19 information line," consisting of a brief recorded message about prevention measures. The automated message had not been updated since April 12th.
Founded in 1968 and affiliated with the Catholic Church, St. Therese has a record of health and safety problems. In a 2018 inspection, the facility was cited 11 times for a variety of violations of minimum health and quality-of-life standards. These included failing to properly empty and remove urinary drainage bags, creating a foul odor in resident rooms; failure to investigate bruising and alleviate pressure sores; and failure to provide basic grooming and routine dental care for residents. Each violation caused "minimal harm or potential for actual harm," federal records show.
The nursing home was also fined $19,500 in 2018 after a resident suffered a second-degree burn because the resident's bed was placed next to a heater. Inspectors found that four residents in the facility's memory care unit were put in "immediate jeopardy" of harm after their beds were placed next to heaters. The nursing home responded by removing beds from baseboard heaters and training staff on the safe bed positioning, records show.
In 2016, St. Therese became the focus of community concern after state health regulators uncovered brutal abuse of two elderly residents, based largely on hidden-camera footage.
State Department of Health investigators found that an 85-year-old patient with a severe cognitive disability was repeatedly punched in the face and stomach, causing visible cuts and bruises, while another patient had a bath towel thrown in her face, among other abuse. Other employees at St. Therese of New Hope were caught on video talking on their personal cellphones rather than providing necessary care. The incidents led to criminal charges against two St. Therese employees and the firing of at least eight other staff.
