North Huntingdon nursing home posts highest covid-19 cases among private operators in Westmoreland County
A North Huntingdon nursing home appears to have the highest number of coronavirus cases among privately-owned long-term care facilities in Westmoreland County, according to state data.
Transitions Healthcare on Barnes Lake Road has reported 91 covid-19 cases among patients and 47 infected staff members since the pandemic reached the region in mid-March, according to state Department of Health figures released this week.
One Transitions resident died of covid-19 on Oct. 14, said Coroner Ken Bacha.
Transitions has experienced a 51% increase in resident cases from the 60 reported last week and a 100% increase from the 20 cases among employees in that same reporting period.
A spokesperson for Transitions Healthcare, a skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility, did not respond to a request for a comment.
The 47 staff members who have tested positive for coronavirus is more than the 37 cases reported among employees at the county-owned Westmoreland Manor in Hempfield, where 129 residents have been infected.
Most Transitions Healthcare residents who tested positive in October were asymptomatic, and their infections were discovered through the required weekly testing, Transitions Healthcare posted on Facebook last week. Many of the residents and employees are asymptomatic and recovering from the virus and nine of the residents that had the virus no longer had symptoms, the post said.
Because so many of the staff had the virus and had to quarantine, Transitions said it had to fill those vacancies with workers from a staffing agency. The company said it has followed Centers for Disease Control guidelines and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recommendations for responding to the pandemic.
Data from seven of the county’s long-term care facilities were not reported to the state, according to the latest information from the health department.
There has been an increase in the number of nursing homes listed as “no data available” because the computer system used to report the data was updated, causing some confusion, said Maggi Mumma, a health department spokeswoman.
“We continue to work with facilities to ensure they are reporting accurate and complete data,” Mumma said.
Joe Napsha is a TribLive reporter covering Irwin, North Huntingdon and the Norwin School District. He also writes about business issues. He grew up on Neville Island and has worked at the Trib since the early 1980s. He can be reached at jnapsha@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.