KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ One-fourth of Kansas City's COVID-19 deaths have occurred at a long-term care facility that accepts patients who have tested positive for the coronavirus.
Nineteen residents of Redwood of Blue River have died in the pandemic, according to statistics on the facility's website. And 89 residents and 14 employees have tested positive for COVID-19.
The total number of COVID-19 deaths in Kansas City as of Monday was 78, health department records show.
Redwood has two Kansas City campuses: Redwood of Blue River, also called Blue River Nursing and Rehab, is at 10425 Chestnut Drive. The other campus, Redwood of Kansas City South _ also known as Kansas City South Nursing and Rehab _ is a skilled nursing facility at 8033 Holmes Road.
The outbreak at the "two campuses is currently the largest outbreak at a Kansas City long-term care facility," said Kansas City Health Department spokeswoman Michelle Pekarsky in an email to The Star.
She said that, by the health department's count, there have been a total of 92 cases and 21 deaths.
Pekarsky added that "it's important to remember the facility accepts COVID-19 positive patients/residents who are being discharged from hospitals."
"That means Blue River's COVID-19 numbers will also rise when they accept new positive patients, not just because of the outbreak."
Holly Anderson, Blue River's regional director, said employees are "doing their utmost to ensure we stop the spread of COVID-19 with preemptive and proactive measures."
Those measures, she said in an email to The Star, include restricting and limiting entry, monitoring staff and residents for symptoms, continuous staff training, constant deep cleaning, social distancing, cessation of communal activities and stockpiling essential personal protective equipment.
"We are in constant communication and collaboration with state and local health officials to ensure all practically appropriate steps are taken to reduce risks," she said.
A chart on Redwood of Blue River's website indicates that no employees or staff tested positive from March 1 to June 4. One employee tested positive on June 4 and two on June 19, it shows, with the first resident testing positive on June 22. By June 30, 28 residents had tested positive. The first death occurred on June 24, and the last recorded death was July 29.
Pekarsky said residents who test positive are being kept in a separate wing and that the health department's communicable disease prevention team checks in regularly with Blue River and other long-term care centers that have positive COVID-19 cases.
In its most recent inspection, dated June 12, 2019, Redwood of Blue River received a one-of-five-star overall rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which is described as "much below average." It also received a one-star rating in the "health inspection" category, with 22 citations _ well above the national average of 8.3 and the Missouri average of 8.8. In the "quality of resident care" category, the facility received four of five stars, or "above average."
Some family members are upset at what they say is a lack of information from Blue River about their loved ones.
Tracey Hawkins said even though tests ultimately showed her aunt, Lola Brown, did not have COVID, she is worried about a lack of transparency at the facility. She said when she asked the nursing home administrator in May whether her aunt had been tested, "she said, yes, she has been assessed."
"She didn't answer my question directly," Hawkins said. "But if you look at their chart, you'll see the first positive test was a staff member. They didn't start testing until June, and they didn't start testing residents until later."
Hawkins said she got a phone call last month saying her aunt's roommate had been hospitalized. Then, she said, she was notified that the roommate had tested positive for COVID-19 but that her aunt was negative. Then came another call, she said, this time to say that her aunt had now tested positive and had been moved to a hall with other positive residents.
"Then I get another call back and he said it was a false positive reading," Hawkins said. "And then he told me she had herpes. I was like, 'What?'
"So here I was thinking it could have been a sexually transmitted disease. I immediately started wondering, 'Who do I report this potentially criminal transgression to, and what is the treatment plan?'"
By then, Hawkins said, her aunt had been on the COVID-19 hall for about two days.
Hawkins said she repeatedly asked the director of nursing to call her about the test results but didn't hear back for three days.
Then she learned that the company that ran her aunt's test had tested for all kinds of viruses. It was a test for herpes simplex virus _ the kind that causes cold sores _ that came back positive, not the COVID-19 test.
Hawkins said her aunt, a former registered nurse with a master's degree in psychiatric nursing, turned 84 last month and was in the final stages of Alzheimer's. She passed away on Sunday.
"I am an active, hands-on family member," Hawkins said. "I'm the girl who was always there pretty much on a regular basis. So if I can't even get answers, I know there are other people who can't as well."
Anderson said the facility "has reached out to family members and have sent letters regarding COVID-19."
"We have also informed our residents and their families that they can get the most up-to-date information from our website along with providing email and contact information," she said.
Hawkins said family members are concerned that the facility is importing COVID-19 patients.
"I asked the administrator how many of the total positive cases are residents who live there and how many are people that you import in?" she said. "And she said she couldn't tell me. She said, 'We take in COVID cases that no one else wants.' I said, 'All the more reason for you to alert us that you're doing that.'
"We have a right to know that so we can make a decision whether or not we want our loved ones to be there when they're bringing them in," she said.
Anderson said that in taking in those patients, "Blue River Healthcare is doing its part in helping the local community in caring for and accepting COVID-19 positive patients from hospitals, long-term facilities and from the outside community. "
Hawkins said because her aunt spent time in the area for COVID-19 residents, she asked that her aunt be tested again. That happened on Wednesday, she said, and the results came back negative.
"I'm not pointing fingers saying they did stuff wrong," Hawkins said. "What I'm saying is give me information, be honest with me. If you make a mistake, let's talk about it and get through it, but don't hide it from me."
Pekarsky noted that in May, Gov. Mike Parson ordered long-term care sites that had a positive coronavirus case to test all residents and staff.
"Blue River has been doing this, as have other long-term care facilities," she said. "Once the virus gets in, it's a challenge to contain it because these are already susceptible populations. It's not uncommon for a facility to do several rounds of testing to contain the virus, go 2-3 weeks without any positive cases in staff or residents, only to have one occur again."
Long-term care facilities and their staff have greater challenges to overcome in the fight against COVID, she said.
"We appreciate those that work through us or the state to contain it."
