LOWELL, MASS. (WHDH) - A long-term care facility in Lowell says it will start accepting COVID-19 patients as coronavirus-related hospitalizations continue to surge across Massachusetts.
On Tuesday, the Willow Manor nursing home announced plans to convert a 10-bed unit into a space to care for people infected with the potentially deadly virus.
Darlene Torre, whose sister and mother-in-law both live at the nursing home, told 7NEWS that she outraged by the decision.
“You want to put COVID patients in a nursing home setting? You’re talking about the most vulnerable population…Our seniors who are in a nursing home because they have medical issues and need to be cared for by nursing staff,” Torre said.
Willow Manor says it will be assisting hospitals that are being inundated with COVID-19 patients.
“We will be accepting COVID-19 positive patients into an isolated portion of the building. This area will be closed off to other residents and staff members by a thick poly-barrier,” the nursing home said in a statement.
Officials say staff in the unit will have their own separate entrance, but Torre is still skeptical.
“They’re still using the same air system in the nursing home. The same air is flowing through the vents. They’re using the same laundry service,” Torre said.
“The Commonwealth has worked closely with long-term care facilities throughout the pandemic including the establishment of COVID-19 isolation spaces to create capacity for COVID-positive patients being discharged from hospitals and other settings who need nursing home level of care. Establishing isolation spaces has prevented bottlenecks in our health care system and kept the state from needing to take more drastic measures such as requiring all nursing homes to admit COVID-positive residents, as was done in other states,” according to a statement released by the Department of Health and Human Services. The Commonwealth’s first priority is the health and safety of residents, and therefore only facilities that meet specific quality criteria are eligible to participate. Facilities participating in the program are required to adhere to strict infection control protocols, including having separate staff from COVID-negative units, and are provided additional state funding to support staffing, PPE, and other infection control needs.”
Massachusetts State Rep. Marc Lombardo, of Billerica, is also infuriated to learn of the converted COVID-19 space.
“Sixty-four percent of all Massachusetts COVID deaths have all come in long-term care facilities…Nearly 7,000 deaths,” Lombardo noted.
Lombardo added, “If the state is encouraging this, I call on our leaders, the governor, and the secretary of public health to immediately change their position and stop this from happening.”
Earlier this week, Gov. Charlie Baker announced that all hospitals will curtail some elective procedures beginning on Friday to free up beds for virus patients and alleviate pressure on health care workers.
“Massachusetts is now experiencing a rapid increase in new positive cases in the wake of Thanksgiving, and in turn the number of people becoming ill and needing hospitalization is also increasing,” Baker said.
Over the last four weeks, confirmed virus-related hospitalizations have increased by 140 percent and the number of patients in the ICU has jumped by 110 percent, according to Baker.
The state is in the process of getting a field hospital online in Lowell.
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