After an outbreak at a Riverside County nursing home, health officials are working to clean them and make sure they’re safe. Lolita Lopez reports for the NBC4 News on Monday, April 13, 2020.
Riverside County officials say they are evaluating every nursing home in the area, sending out special teams and taking calls from care facilities that are seeing people with symptoms or experiencing other red flags.
Jose Arballo, a spokesman for the Riverside County Health Department, said the Riverside County Health Department is taking an unusual step, calling for medical and non-medical volunteers to help increase staff at nursing home facilities.
They're also calling for drivers and cleaning people to keep these facilities clean. The call for help comes as the county deals with coronavirus outbreaks in nursing homes.
Last week the county evacuated more than 80 patients from Magnolia Rehabilitation and Nursing Center when staff stopped showing up. The NBCLA I-Team discovered the facility had several complaints, among them those dealing with infection control.
Family members spoke to NBCLA about 20-year old nursing assistant Valeria Viveros who worked at the neighboring, Extended Care hospital. She died Friday after contracting the coronavirus.
Extended Care the the other facility right next to Magnolia had 26 staff members that tested positive, Arballo said.
Extended care hospital had seven 7 complaints in 2019, two were substantiated, according to state and federal records reviewed by the I-Team. The hospital also had 14 deficiencies that same year, which is below the state average.
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On its website the facility says it is limiting visitors and added new procedures for those allowed inside.
Arballo said the emphasis is on testing now.
Riverside County could not say how many of their 1,619 cases and 41 deaths were linked to nursing home or similar long term care locations but stressed they are a priority.
