Coronavirus outbreak hits Sanborn nursing home facility

A nursing home in Sanborn is attempting to mitigate the spread of a COVID-19 outbreak inside the facility.

Fourteen cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed at Prairie View Campus as of Monday, according to a joint news release by the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) and O'Brien County Public Health. Those affected are in isolation and additional testing of residents and staff will take place as directed by IDPH.

"We are in contact with our families and are doing everything we can to support them," according to a statement from Prairie View Campus. "We are also doing everything we can to ensure we stop the spread of this within our facility and have activated our emergency response procedures."

Prairie View Campus is the first long-term care facility in O'Brien County to report a COVID-19 outbreak. According to IDPH, an outbreak occurs when three or more cases of coronavirus are identified among residents of a facility.

Prairie View Campus includes four wings: Prairie View Manor, independent living; Prairie View Inn, assisted living; Prairie View Home, skilled nursing care; and Kuiper Villa, a special care unit for dementia and Alzheimer's Disease patients.

"We are working with local and state health officials to ensure we are taking the appropriate steps at this time," noted Prairie View's statement. "Our staff and residents are following the recommended preventative actions, we have restricted visitors from entering our facility, and canceled all group activities within the building until the virus has been eradicated."

Statewide, there are currently 25 COVID-19 outbreaks at long-term care facilities. The elderly are particularly vulnerable to the disease.

"Protecting the health and wellbeing of the residents and staff is of the highest priority," said O'Brien County Public Health Director Kimberly Morran in a news release. "We know our older population is at the highest risk for serious COVID-19 illness, so we are monitoring the situation carefully and taking the highest precautions to prevent virus spread."

According to the state's COVID-19 website, O'Brien County has reported 131 cases of the virus since the pandemic began. Ninety-two have recovered and one person died. In Clay County, there have been 171 positive cases, 140 recoveries and one death.

• Community Memorial Health Center ends visits

Limited visits to Community Memorial Health Center in Hartley have been suspended indefinitely due to the increased threat of COVID-19.

CMHC Administrator Janette Simon announced the suspension Monday, citing an uptick in coronavirus cases in O'Brien County. The facility had started allowing outsiders to visit residents last month for the first time since March under strict protocol.

"The system we had in place was beautiful, and we're sorry we couldn't do it longer," said Simon. "It worked."

Simon said the decision to suspend visits was not directly motivated by the outbreak at Prairie View Campus in Sanborn.

"Certainly that's concerning and we feel bad for them, but this would have happened regardless due to the increase in numbers," she said.

CMHC began allowing visitors on July 13. Protocol was rigid, and guests were only allowed at the facility if they passed a screening.

Once on site, a six-foot distance was required between the visitor and guest, and both were required to wear masks. Hand sanitizer was also used prior to each visit. Only two guests were allowed per visit, and each resident was only allowed one visit per day. Each appointment had a 20-minute maximum.

Simon noted a family violated protocol last Saturday by propping a door open and allowing unscreened people inside the facility. Despite this breach, she believed it posed a minimal risk to other residents since the people didn't interact with anyone else and were promptly escorted out of the facility.

Simon shared news of the breach in an email to residents' families, which she felt was important.

"We all need to stay transparent," she said.

Simon admitted the pandemic shutdown is starting to wear on staff, residents and their families. Unfortunately, tensions are starting to boil over outside CMHC's walls, as Simon noted both she and staff members have been approached by people upset with COVID-19 protocols.

She said keeping CMHC's residents safe from COVID-19 was everyone's No. 1 priority.

"We remain steadfast in our commitment to maintaining those protocols, and no amount of pressure to me, the board or the staff will make us change," said Simon. "They are fair across the board."