Two more COVID-19 deaths at Riverbend nursing facility in KCK reported Sunday
The number of deaths associated with a massive COVID-19 outbreak at a Kansas City, Kansas, rehab and nursing facility continued to rise, with two more deaths announced Easter Sunday.
“Though this is a day of celebration for many, we unfortunately have some sad updates to share,” the Unified County Public Health Department posted on its Facebook page. ”The Riverbend numbers have gone up again since we last posted about them.”
Twelve residents of Riverbend Post Acute Rehabilitation center who tested positive for the virus have died, according to the health department in Wyandotte County. The total number of cases hit 110, 90 of them residents and 20 staff members.
Riverbend has become Kansas’ biggest outbreak for COVID-19. The Unified Government was notified of the outbreak on April 3, after several residents tested positive. The first death from the facility occurred April 5, health officials have said.
The facility had roughly 130 residents and nearly 100 employees.
The center’s administrator Cory Schulte and director of nursing Maureen Purvis released a daily update Sunday afternoon. They didn’t mention the number of deaths or coronavirus cases.
They instead explained what currently is going on at the facility. Approximately 90 percent of the patients with the virus are “positively responding to the clinical interventions,” the update said. Medical staff are seeing “positive trends in nutrition, hydration and vitamin absorption.”
But that hasn’t occurred with all cases, the administrator and director of nursing said.
“While we are seeing success in turning the tide relative to this virus, there are still some residents whose overall course has not been as encouraging despite the efforts of our clinical team,” the statement said.
“In those very limited cases, we are making palliative and supportive care available as requested and appropriate, and interfacing directly with residents and families to ensure that their existing needs are met in accordance with their directives.”
“We extend our thoughts and prayers to these valued members of our community during this difficult time, and would ask that you join us in doing the same.”
According to the health department, five residents of Riverbend are hospitalized.
It’s still unclear when residents first experienced symptoms, when they were tested and how long it took for those tests to come back.
In a report The Star published Sunday, one KCK man said his father was released from the rehab center five days early and wasn’t tested for the coronavirus before he was sent home. Carl Brewster, 88, left Riverbend on April 3 and died two days later at home.
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After his death, he tested positive for the virus. And Brewster’s son and daughter-in-law, who picked him up that Friday and spent 2 1/2 days with him, were notified Saturday that they both have tested positive for the virus. Both are 68 and diabetic.
“So it turns out that was a huge mistake for Riverbend to send Dad home April 3,” Steve Brewster said Saturday after he and his wife received their test results. “I’d like people to know there are some issues here. I don’t like the cover-up issues here.”
