Coronavirus: 10 long-term care facilities report COVID-19 cases in the Miami Valley

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Ten long-term care facilities in the Miami Valley have reported coronavirus cases, with nearly 150 staff or residents infected, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

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Facilities in Auglaize, Butler, Darke, Miami and Warren counties reported at least one case as of Wednesday. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention defines long-term care facilities as nursing homes, skilled nursing facilities and assisted living centers.

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Of the coronavirus cases, at least 28 led to deaths associated with clusters of cases at Koester Pavilion in Troy and SpringMeade Health Center in Tipp City in Miami County; and Greenville Health & Rebabilitation Center in Greenville in Darke County.

The following facilities in the Miami Valley have reported cases:

Auglaize County:

  • Otterbein at St. Marys SeniorLife Community: 1
  • Otterbein of Cridersville SeniorLife Community: 4

Butler County:

  • The Knolls of Oxford: 1
Darke County:
  • Greenville Health and Rehabilitation Center: 32
  • Rest Haven: 1
  • Village Green Health Campus: 2

Miami County:

  • Koester Pavilion: 65
  • SpringMeade Health Center: 33

Warren County:

  • Cedarview Rehabilitation & Nursing Care of Lebanon: 1
  • The Sheridan at Mason: 6

>> Experts: Nursing home cases a sign of how infectious coronavirus is

Numbers from ODH are cumulative and may include people who have recovered or have been discharged from the hospitals and are in recovery.

Earlier this week Gov. Mike DeWine and ODH Director Dr. Amy Acton ordered that long-term care facilities notify residents and their families of any confirmed or probable cases of coronavirus within 24 hours.

DeWine and Acton warned that the data does not include the facilities’ policies and mitigation strategies and that anyone with concerns should contact the facility to learn more about how its working to prevent the spread of the virus.

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Koester Pavilion was one of the first facilities in Ohio to report cases of coronavirus. The skilled nursing and short-term rehabilitation facility in Troy beginning March 6 took “proactive steps to protect residents,” including restricting visitors and instituting far-ranging restrictions in accordance with state and federal guidelines, according to Ben Sutherly, system director of communications for Premier Health, which owns the facility in Troy.

“Koester Pavilion employees are taking several precautions as they care for their residents, including monitoring themselves for symptoms upon leaving and returning home, and upon arriving at and leaving the skilled nursing facility,” Sutherly said earlier. “Our clinical and support teams have trained extensively for this eventuality and are well-prepared to treat patients with COVID-19 while ensuring the safety of our patients and staff.”

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Dr. Glen Solomon, chairman of the department of internal medicine at Wright State University’s Boonshoft School of Medicine, previously spoke to the Dayton Daily News about the difficulty nursing homes face trying to protect their staff and residents against highly infectious diseases.

“Even if you do everything perfectly, you can’t keep the virus out of these environments,” Solomon said “This is not a marker of quality of care. This is a marker of how bad and how widespread this virus is in this community.”

To see all the long-term care facilities in Ohio that have reported coronavirus cases view the table below.

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