| Augusta Chronicle
As COVID-19 spread across the country, no population was hit more than residents of long-term care facilities.
Locally, nursing home residents were the first to be infected and to die. Last year in Georgia, 4,174 residents of long-term care facilities, those with 25 or more beds, died, according to the state’s Department of Community Health.
In Richmond, Columbia and Burke counties, more than 1,000 residents tested positive and 165 died of COVID, according to state data.
But last week, the American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living, which represents more than 14,000 long-term care homes, saw an 82% drop in new cases of COVID since the peak in December. Associations attribute the drop to vaccinations. Deaths also dropped significantly, 63%.
Georgia reported that 46,281 residents of long-term care facilities were fully vaccinated. In South Carolina, the number is 35,257.
Before vaccines were available, COVID had a terrible price in nursing homes, however. In response in Georgia, Governor Brian Kemp deployed the National Guard to help disinfect nursing homes last spring.
Windermere Health and Rehabilitation was one of those retirement homes. It was one of the first homes in the Augusta area to be hit by the virus. Of the 26 nursing homes and large personal care homes monitored by the state as of last week, Windermere had 84 positive test residents and 14 died.
The home most affected by infections was Pruitthealth on Milledgeville Road, where 169 residents tested positive and 17 died.
But the home with the highest number of deaths in the Augusta area is the Georgia veterans’ asylum, with 26. Among its residents, 108 have tested positive for COVID.
The past year has been difficult for nursing home residents and their families, as health institutions have stopped visiting to limit exposure to the virus. At the same time, because of the health system crisis, regular inspections of nursing homes have been stopped.
Instead of regular inspections, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid switched in March 2020 to “Research Focused on Targeted Infection Control,” said Devon Barill, director of communications for the American Health Care Association. In the most recent report, all homes in the Augusta area reported proper infection control practices.
Augusta’s lawyer, Caleb Connor, whose firm represents clients or their families in cases of malpractice and negligence, said he was concerned about what may have happened behind closed doors in nursing homes.
“I’m afraid there is a lot of neglect and abuse going on … some of them may never be discovered, that we may never know,” said Connor.
His company has received a series of calls from family members of nursing home patients who claim to have called the state to report suspected abuse or neglect, but have not yet had an answer, Connor said. Even with regular inspections interrupted, states must still investigate complaints.
None of the homes in the Augusta area have had general or complaint investigators in more than a year, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, which has an online service that everyone can use to review inspection reports.
It has been a difficult year for patients and their families, Connor said. It has been especially difficult for residents with reduced capacity. Hopefully, the worst is over and family members will soon be able to meet in person. Families are the best protection for residents of long-term care facilities, Connor said.