13 dead at nursing home

Aug. 11--PRINCETON -- Mercer County has reported 13 deaths related to COVID-19 and all were related to the Princeton Health Care Center (PHCC).

Brenda Donithan, interim administrator at the Mercer County Health Department, said two more deaths were confirmed Monday after the count had jumped from three to 11 over the weekend.

Donithan also said during a pandemic conference call update with area agencies Monday morning that Mercer County saw 18 new positive cases over the weekend raising the cumulative total to 214 confirmed cases with 123 active and 94 recovered.

"We have had 10 hospitalizations and two current hospitalizations," she said. "We have one hospitalized and on a ventilator."

Donithan said contact tracing is under way and proper protocol is being followed.

As far as the previous problem of reporting deaths and other information to the state Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR), Donithan said that situation has been addressed.

"We worked all weekend on getting that in place," she said. "Everyone will review and sign that they understand what needs to be done."

Dr. Ayne Amjad, state Health Officer and commissioner of the Bureau of Public Health, said today during Gov. Jim Justice's pandemic briefing that after the first three deaths were reported by the health department, staffing issues at the department and at PHCC developed.

On July 31, the medical director of the health department resigned, the administrator announced her retirement and the chair of the board of health resigned.

"I think there was some confusion about the eight individuals who passed away and how it was reported," Amjad said. "A lot of things are done by paperwork and not word of mouth. We have to be careful and sensitive on how we relay information to the public."

The way information is relayed is through reports, she said.

"In Mercer County, these reports were not filled out due to the change in staff that had occurred," she said. "Princeton Health Care Center staff is working hard, but they are overwhelmed, and reports were not filled out in time."

The PHCC medical director was hospitalized with COVIC-19 and other staff members became ill.

But Amjad said all of those reports were completed over the weekend.

"The families (of the deceased) had known and had been notified but no one else knew this," she said. "We want to be accurate, we want to be clear with people, we want to be sensitive. Being timely is very important. It was a matter of personnel changes and getting paperwork out."

On Monday, the health department released a statement reviewing the problems.

"The delayed reporting of these deaths was influenced by two factors: first, the sudden vacancy of the medical director position at PHCC, and second, a misinterpretation of standing COVID-19 state procedures pertaining to the need for verification of death certificates prior to reporting," the statement said.

Dr. Randy Maxwell, chair of the board of health, also released a statement.

"The Mercer County Health Department interim director, Brenda Donithan, is updating the death reporting procedures for the department based on the new clarification of directives to ensure there will be no delay in future reporting," he said. "On behalf of the Mercer County Board, we extend our condolences to those who have lost loved ones and our prayers to those who are currently fighting this battle."

Donithan also said staff at the department is working on "making our services better and more available out in the community. We have to see some changes."

Help has been received in contact tracing as well, she said, with a certified contact tracer who is a faculty member at Concord University helping out.

"She volunteers her time to do this for us," she said, and the state is sending a nurse to also help.

Princeton Health Care Center has reported 83 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 33 active resident cases and 16 active employee cases.

During the conference call on Monday, which was arranged and monitored by Mercer County Commissioner Greg Puckett, area rescue squads as well as Mark Pickett with Princeton Community Hospital, said enough supplies of PPE are available.

Pickett also praised the area's EMS services for their working in transporting 16 patients from PHCC Sunday night to hospitals in the region after positive COVID-19 tests were found.

"Kudos to rescue squads and regional EMS command system as well as other health care facilities (in the region)," he said, adding that everyone worked together to provide patients with the care they needed.

Bluefield City Manager Dane Rideout said he has a concern with the Bluefield Area Transit (BAT) and passengers not always wearing masks.

"Drivers are doing a great job," he said. "They are at high risk to exposure and many (riders) are not doing it (wearing a mask)."

Rideout said he is at a "borderline" of requiring it, but needs to check if the federal government may have money in grants to pay for masks to give out to passengers.

City hall in Bluefield also remains closed to the public, he said, and will not reopen "anytime soon."

Rideout has also checked with city managers Mike Webb of Princeton and Mike Watson of Bluefield, Va. to be on the same page with the closures.

All fairs and festivals related to the city have been canceled, he said, but the annual Holiday of Lights will go on as usual.

-- Contact Charles Boothe at cboothe@bdtonline.com

___

(c)2020 the Bluefield Daily Telegraph (Bluefield, W.Va.)

Visit the Bluefield Daily Telegraph (Bluefield, W.Va.) at bdtonline.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.