Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights

July 22, 2020

Coronavirus claims lives of 79 people in two Farmington N.M. nursing homes



By Brenda Norrell
Censored News

FARMINGTON, N.M. -- Coronavirus has claimed the lives of 79 people at two nursing homes in Farmington, as the virus spread at an alarming rate, infecting both residents and staff.

Even before the pandemic, New Mexico was tied with Arkansas for the highest rate of serious deficiencies in nursing homes in the country, the type of deficiencies that lead to the rampant spread of infectious diseases.



At Life Care Center in Farmington, 48 people have died. More than half of the residents have contracted the virus, 88 people in the 144-bed facility. The virus has also surged through the staff, with 54 staff members testing positive.

At a second nursing home here, there were 31 deaths at Cedar Ridge Inn. More than half of the residents, 70 people, contracted the virus in the 101-bed facility The staff was also hard hit by the virus, with 47 staff members testing positive.

In Gallup, at the Red Rocks Care Center nursing home, 57 residents and 33 staff contracted the virus. Here, 19 people have died from the virus.

It is unknown how many Native Americans have died in these bordertown nursing homes from the virus. Farmington and Gallup are surrounded by the Navajo Nation, Jicarilla Apache, Pueblos and Ute in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado.

New Mexico nursing homes have been cited previously for failed care, neglect and the type of health and safety violations that cause infectious diseases to spread rampantly.

"Even before the pandemic, nursing home inspectors documented a pattern of widespread and severe health and safety violations in New Mexico, tied with Arkansas for the highest rate of serious deficiencies in the country, according to a database compiled by the nonprofit investigative news organization ProPublica," states NM Political Report.

"Eighty-five percent of the state’s nursing homes failed to provide and implement an infection prevention and control program before the pandemic." Read more.

The daily deaths in McKinley County, where Gallup is located, increased on Tuesday.

Coronavirus claimed the lives of four people in McKinley County, including a woman in her 40s. The deaths reported on Tuesday from the virus in New Mexico reveal an increase.

McKinley County includes Gallup, portions of eastern Navajo Nation and Zuni Pueblo.

In southern New Mexico, in prisons and migrant jails, there are 886 cases of the virus in Otero County near the border.

On the Navajo Nation on Tuesday, there were 22 new cases, and three more deaths related to COVID-19.

The total number of deaths has reached 425. Approximately 6,437 individuals have recovered from COVID-19. In all, 74,045 people have been tested for COVID-19. The total number of positive cases for the Navajo Nation is 8,639.

On the Navajo Nation, the active number of cases is 2,202.

Below is the coronavirus data for New Mexico nursing homes and care facilities as of July 21, provided by the New Mexico Department of Health to Censored News.


# of COVID-19 patients in Nursing home/Assisted living facilities
713
# of COVID-19 employees in Nursing home/Assisted living facilities
524
# of patient deaths by facility
218
# of deaths in Health Care Workers at LTCs
3

Detailed List:

NF/ALF
total positive detected so far in patients
# of positive cases in staff
# of COVID-19 related Deaths at facility
Sandia Ridge Genesis
NF
19
9
1
Life Care Farmington
NF
88
54
48
Camino Healthcare, ABQ
NF
40
17
4
Advanced Health Care of Albuquerque
NF
18
24
8
Beehive Homes 2, Farmington
ALF
4
5
0
Neighborhood in Rio Rancho, Health Care
NF
0
9
0
Cedar Ridge Inn, Farmington
NF
70
47
31
Red Rocks Care Center, Gallup
NF
57
33
19
Taos Living Center, Taos
NF
0
3
0
Spanish Trails Rehabilitation Suites
NF
32
14
2
Retirement Ranches-Clovis
NF
0
3
0
Avamere at Fiesta Park, Albuquerque
NF
4
1
0
Casa de Oro Center, Las Cruces
NF
1
1
0
Casa Del Sol Center, Las Cruces
NF
0
3
0
Village at Northrise, Las Cruces
NF
1
3
0
Bear Canyon
NF
6
4
0
Good Samaritan, Grants
NF
13
14
8
Mission Arch Center (Roswell)
NF
2
1
0
Princeton Place
NF
44
24
5
Casa Real Genesis, Santa Fe
NF
0
5
0
Blue Horizon Assisted Living, Las Cruces
ALF
0
1
0
Good Samaritan, Las Cruces
NF
5
2
1
The Rio Las Estancias
NF
20
17
1
Sombrillo Nursing & Rehabilitation, Los Alamos
NF
0
1
0
Sagecrest Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Las Cruces
NF
1
1
0
Desert Springs Nursing and Rehabilitation, Hobbs
NF
0
1
0
Brookdale Senior Living, Juan Tabo
ALF
0
1
0
Cranes Roost Assited Living, Aztec
ALF
1
2
1
Adobe Assisted Living, Las Cruces
ALF
0
1
0
Genesis Rio Rancho Center
NF
0
1
0
Bloomfield Nursing and Rehab Center, Bloomfield
NF
1
0
1
Welbrook Senior Living, Las Cruces
ALF
1
1
0
Sierra Healthcare Center, TorC
NF
0
3
0
Aristocrat Assisted Living, Alamogordo
ALF
0
1
0
NM State Veterans Home, TorC
NF
1
0
0
White Sands Healthcare, Hobbs
NF
0
1
0
El Castillo, Santa Fe

0
1
0
North Ridge Care Center, Albuquerque
NF
0
1
0
The Montebello on Academy, Albuquerque

2
0
0
Retreat Healthcare, Rio Rancho
ALF
0
1
0
Good Life Senior Living, Carlsbad
ALF
0
1
0
Sunset Villa Nursing home, Roswell
NF
0
1
0



No comments: