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As the coronavirus continues to sweep through the nation’s nursing homes, the issue is brought close to home as fire trucks and medical vehicles race down Mission Street en route to the South Pasadena Care Center.
AS THURSDAY 4-23-2020 THERE ARE 53 CONFIRMED CASES AT THE CARE CENTER. Check back as this story is live, and being updated as information is confirmed….
THIS REPORT HAS BEEN UPDATED Click Here: According to Los Angeles County records released this week, a total of 30 53 of South Pasadena’s documented Covid-19 patients are housed within the South Pasadena Care Center on Mission Street — a majority of the 38 (LA County Health is currently reporting a total of 51) cases reported in the city as of Wednesday. The figures, released by the County Health Department, state that as of April 22, there were 19 residents with Covid-19 at SPCC and 11 staff members. It also states there are five residents who are considered likely to have the condition. When asked if anyone at the nursing home facility has died due to COVID-19, Chief Riddle through email responded: “I/we do not have that information.”
During the COVID-19 outbreak, firefighters/paramedics have visited the facility on emergency calls to care for coronavirus patients, according to South Pasadena Fire Chief Paul Riddle.
According to public records, the manager of SPCC is Hana Feller, its administrator Julie Miller, and its director of nursing Annie Coranora. None returned calls Tuesday seeking comment.
A resident reported that bodies were being placed on gurneys and removed from the facility, which proved to be unfounded, said the chief. “We have responded to 904 Mission several times throughout this past week and there are confirmed COVID-19 patients at the facility,” wrote Riddle in an email. “The report of ‘Bodies’ being removed is not accurate, these are patients with acute medical issues. We are actively working with Administration, LA County Department of Health and surrounding Hospitals to address the situation.”
The situation has put a spotlight on elderly care homes around the world, where thousands of older residents – the most vulnerable to COVID-19 – are believed to have died as a result of contracting the disease. One of the earliest outbreaks in the country took place at the Life Care Center in Washington that killed several dozen people.
“We know that older adults living in group facilities like nursing homes as well as the caregivers who work there are most vulnerable to COVID-19 exposure,” said South Pasadena City Councilmember Dr. Marina Khubesrian. “Chief Riddle is monitoring the situation closely as are county health officials and briefing the council on a regular basis. My thoughts and prayers are with the elderly patients fighting this virus and I know we all wish them a speedy recovery.”
News Journalist Ben Tansey contributed to this report
I appreciate this reporting, and I hope to see it lead to a discussion about how the novel coronavirus is affecting us as a community. It’s horrifying to see the effects on people inside this board and care facility, but we also have to notice that it means the vast majority of COVID-19 cases in the city come from a single building. The people blasting us with non-stop “fear porn” on social media, constantly bleating that it’s a death sentence to set foot in a park or walk on a sidewalk, are harming us. The insistence that you’d better be masked up before you crack your front door open is hysteria. Be calm, be careful, and notice that there’s not much illness in the community as a whole.
There are also policy implications: Most of our local COVID-19 illness is from a single nursing home, so the city padlocked the tennis courts and the Angeles National Forest closed wilderness trails. It’s time to reconsider some of these measures.