Nursing home operator using Lower Burrell site to care for covid-19 positive patients

A Lower Burrell nursing home is being used by its parent company to house and treat covid-19 patients.

In a statement issued Sunday, Guardian Elder Care confirmed it is using Belair Healthcare & Rehabilitation on Little Drive as a dedicated covid-19 recovery unit.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Belair is a small facility with 103 beds.

The company said it completed transferring covid-19 patients from other, local Guardian sites to Belair earlier last week. It did not specify how many patients were sent there, nor from where they were transferred.

“Our goal is to provide covid-19 patients the best possible care and prognosis based upon their individual health situations,” the company said in the statement.

According to its website, as of Sunday Belair had 23 weekly cumulative confirmed cases; three or more new cases of onset of respiratory systems within the past 72 hours, and one or more new confirmed covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours. The count includes residents and staff.

The company said Belair provides an environment where patients with and without covid-19 can be cared for safely and efficiently.

“These patients are being cared for on a separate floor, with separate entrances and in a distinct area of the site apart from other residents,” the company said. “Caregivers who are in contact with covid patients are not in contact with non-covid patients.”

Guardian said it notified residents and families of the first positive covid case at the site as required by the state and provided information on how and when updates would be provided.

According to the state Health Department, Belair was last inspected in May. No deficiencies were found in that survey, which focused on covid-19.

Founded in 1995, Guardian Elder Care is a privately owned healthcare organization with 51 of its 58 locations in Pennsylvania and bills itself as the state’s largest independent provider of skilled nursing services. It has more than 4,500 skilled nursing, personal care and independent living units in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.