Waterford Place Health Campus has reported 45 positive COVID-19 cases among its residents and 33 staff infections in December, marking the largest outbreak in months inside a local nursing home.
Since November, the assisted living facility on St. Joseph Drive has reported 20 cumulative COVID-related deaths among both residents and employees. Five of those resident deaths occurred last week, according to state data.
In total, the facility reported 121 presumed positive cases of COVID among both its residents and employees. So far, 80 have recovered from the virus, as of Thursday.
On Thursday, Waterford Place had 13 active COVID-positive residents, which equals over 14% of the entire resident population, according to numbers provided by the company. Seven active employees also had the virus out of a 115 workers.
The outbreak comes after administrators in November sent out a memo to family members informing them the facility would accept a “limited number of COVID-19 positive residents from local hospitals and our sister communities for a limited period of time.”
“The residents we will be caring for are exhibiting mild to moderate symptoms or are experiencing an improvement in their symptoms and are nearing the recovery stage of the virus,” Waterford Place said in the memo. “These residents will be placed in an area of our campus isolated from the rest of our building.”
That decision drew criticism from some residents with family members in the facility who were concerned about bringing in more people infected with the virus into a vulnerable population.
Jennifer Sexton, director of nursing for the Howard County Health Department, said in an interview in early December she understood those concerns, but freeing up space at the hospitals had become critical as they reached maximum capacity.
Waterford Place on Thursday said in a statement it continues to send daily text and email messages to residents’ representatives with the most recent COVID-19 statistics.
The facility said it continues to follow all applicable federal, state and local public health guidelines for limiting the spread of infection, and administrators are in frequent communication with the local department of health.
They have also significantly increased the frequency at which employees and residents are tested for COVID-19. The company said residents and staff are separated into different zones within its campus to mitigate exposure.
Residents in the Red Zone, in which outside patients would be held, are observed at all times by dedicated team members, the facility said, and it continually evaluates and seeks to enhance its infection control protocols.
“Our campus teams will continue to work tirelessly to provide excellent clinical care, and to treat every resident with the utmost compassion during these difficult times,” the company said in a statement. “We could not be more grateful for every single team member at Waterford Place. Their compassion, selflessness and dedication to our residents are nothing short of heroic.”