The state is delaying its plans to stand up a COVID-19-only center at a nursing home in Wilmington due to positive COVID-19 test results among patients there.
Pointe Group Care, which runs AdviniaCare in Wilmington, announced on Friday that of the 98 residents set to be moved, 51 tested positive for the virus.
"To say we are surprised by the findings would be an understatement," Chris Hannon, Chief Operating Officer at Pointe Group Care. "Considering how aggressive we have been, this points to how insidious this virus is; we are fighting an invisible enemy. We are ensuring that residents with the illness get the specialized care and support that they need."
The AdviniaCare site was touted by state officials this week as a central feature of developing plans to expand care capacity amidst the pandemic. State officials say the facility, with support from state public health officials and Partners Healthcare, has taken steps to isolate residents and implement infection control measures.
"Prior to discharging and transferring any resident from a facility that will become a COVID-19 Nursing Home, all residents will be tested," heath and human services spokeswoman Brooke Karanovich said in a statement. "Based on the results of that testing, we are delaying our plans to temporarily designate the AdviniaCare at Wilmington as a COVID-19 Nursing Home. We will continue to work at stemming the tide of this pandemic and secure other locations to serve as dedicated COVID-19 facilities."
Eighty-two long-term care facilities in Massachusetts had at least one positive COVID-19 as of Friday, and residents of those facilities accounted for 382 of the more than 10,000 positive cases in Massachusetts.
The other nursing home targeted for conversion to COVID-19-only - Beaumont Rehab and Skilled Nursing Center in Worcester - remains on track and will be prepared to start accepting COVID-19 patients from hospitals next week, according to a state health and human services official. - Michael P. Norton/SHNS | 4/4/20 11:27 AM
