West Salem Helps Living Facilities With Virus Outbreak Salem Reporter

West Salem’s Prestige Senior Living Orchard Heights. (Saphara Harrell / Salem Reporter).

A long-term care facility in West Salem reported 41 patients with coronavirus infection and 4 deaths. The latest findings indicate that senior care facilities are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19.

According to a state report released on May 12, Prestige Senior Living Orchard Heights, a living and memory support facility on Northwest Orchard Heights Road, killed 4 people with 41 positive residents or staff. I reported to the state authorities.

The center accounts for almost half of the 89 cases in Polk County and all but two deaths in the area. Polk County is seeking state permits to lift restrictions to resume operations by Friday this week.

Prestige officials were unable to contact us by phone on Tuesday and did not answer the questions sent by email.

The West Salem Center currently has the third largest number of cases for the elderly in the state, both second only to Foster Creek Healthcare and Laurelhurst Village in Multnomah County.

The state data shows that the outbreak was immediate. By Tuesday, May 5, Orchard Heights had recorded less than three cases and no deaths. The center’s first confirmed respiratory illness infection was reported on 30 April.

Orchard Heights is licensed for 67 beds, according to Oregon State Welfare Department records. Headquartered in Vancouver, the company also operates Prestige Senior Living Orchard Heights Memory Care at the same address with 18 licensed beds.

Established in 1985, Prestige operates 90 life support, nursing homes, or memory care facilities in nine western states.

According to department records, Prestige Senior Living Orchard Heights has had 15 abuse or neglect violations since 2014. In 2019, the property was quoted as failing to protect one resident from another. In 2018, it was cited as a failure to provide adequate medical care and to protect residents from falls.

Christie Polanco, a public health manager for Polk County, said county health workers provided test kits to the facility and contacted managers daily about the need for personal protective equipment.

“Our daily communication confirms that they have the resources needed to continue the OHA recommended disease control protocol,” she said by email.

Polanco did not answer the source question.

On April 28, Prestige will restrict visitor access, require visitors to undergo screening and hygiene procedures, have staff always wear surgical face masks, and track all residents. Posted on the website the measures that impose compliance with COVID-19, including requesting patient, staff contact information.

By state, the state imposed more stringent rules designed to limit the spread of the disease. This includes not accepting new residents, notifying family members of the outbreak, terminating group meals and activities, moving residents to private rooms when possible, and immediately if COVID is confirmed or suspected. Including reporting to. -19 cases.

Such limits are standard for facilities regulated with suspicious or confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Last week, a spike in Polk County approached a nursing facility in South Salem, reporting triple the number of cases.

Last week, a state report found that Salem Transitional Care killed three people with a positive test for 26 residents or staff. These numbers have not changed in the latest report. The company’s executives say the expanded testing led to the discovery of the incident.

According to state data released Tuesday, seven other care homes in Marion County have more than three cases and one or more deaths.

14 cases at Oaks at Sherwood Park, 16 at Marquis Marian Estates, 4 at Four Seasons Memory Care, 2 at Jason Lee Manor Apartments, 3 at Avamere Court at Keizer, 6 at Country Meadows Village and Turner Residential Care. there is.