SCHERTZ, Texas —
Local health officials say between 4,000 to 6,000 nursing home residents still have not been tested for COVID-19.
And while those patients and the health care professionals who take care of them wait to learn their fate, every day they remain exposed to each other and the possibility of spreading the disease. That’s the fear of one employee of the Silver Tree Care Center in Schertz.
The employee, who feared retaliation and did not want their name used, said vulnerable senior citizens who are cut off from the outside world deserve an extra layer of protection.
Speaking of the parent company that owns the facility, Creative Healthcare Solutions, the employee said: “Someone really needs to look into this company.”
In a prepared statement posted online, the company wrote they are working to determine the full spread of the outbreak, they have notified residents, families and staff of the situation and they are using appropriate personal protective equipment. The notice went on to say they are doing temperature checks, extensive staff education, and have instituted ‘consistent assignment’ of personnel so that staff members will have contact with a limited number of residents.
But the staff member who called KENS 5 to express concerns claims there are problems at the facility because the written guidelines are not being followed.
The employee said the most recent concerns began earlier in the week when a patient was transferred into the facility and put into the general population and not into a period of quarantine.
The employee said “The resident was not isolated the first days that she was there and because of that, the social worker visited with her, and of course her nursing staff took care of her,” adding the exposure was widespread “Several members of the management team, all the way down to the activity team came and spoke with this patient, because that's protocol and when there's a new patient, usually everyone comes in to visit.”
Further, the employee alleges the positive patient used common areas, contributing to further risk.
“The patients get bathed in a community shower, so there's so many different exposures, like the therapy gym,” the employee said, adding “That patient had been in the therapy gym. There's been so many opportunities for exposure and nothing to clean it up.”
The company’s posted remarks go on to say they have instituted more thorough cleaning procedures throughout the facility.
The employee said there are concerns about the lack of accountability that results from no oversight from family members during this period of quarantine. “What's even worse is the family members that aren't even allowed to visit their loved ones, and they really care but they don't even have a clue what's going on,” the employee alleges.
The employee said many who work in the facility are concerned for their own health, and the well being of their own families.
“It terrifies me to know that I could possibly be COVID positive right now, and I can't get any kind of help. That's absolutely terrifying because I'm supposed to be there to help and you would think the person called to help would be protected in some sense, and there's absolutely no support or protection,” the employee said.
The employee said the stress of having to wait for testing, and then wait additional days for test results, is causing distress throughout.
“The scariest part is we're all supposed to be in this together. We're all supposed to be a team but you can't work with a team that's not transparent,” the employee said.
The following is the full text of the Silver Tree response: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vvLAU61Vvw9QjDxxe6rJ55IphDq9v1_9/view
In South San Antonio, there have been 17 COVID-19 cases and one death at another facility owned by Creative Solutions in Healthcare.
The Rio at Mission Trails is located at 6211 South New Braunfels.
The company also owns Bexar County’s only dedicated COVID-19 care facility, River City, in east San Antonio on Nolan Street.
County health officials have said they hope to have all nursing home residents and staff tested for COVID-19 within the next two weeks.