March 28, 2024

Orchard View Manor in EP Struggles with Covid-19 Crisis

“Staffing levels are still critical. Thank you to the community who have reached out to support the staff at Orchard View,” - Mayor DaSilva

Posted

20 Covid-19 Deaths reported to date.

Mayor Bob DaSilva has responded to the Orchard View Manor nursing home in the city in the wake of several deaths and staff illness. The Mayor said some 25 staff members have tested positive for the virus. “Staffing levels are still critical. Thank you to the community who have reached out to support the staff at Orchard View,” said DaSilva. “Please coordinate any food deliveries with Patricia Resende in our office at Presende@cityofeastprov.com. She is keeping a schedule of deliveries to avoid duplication of effort. Orchard View Staff are busy caring for patients and at this time and do not have the manpower to handle different residents reaching out to them on their own,” added DaSilva.

There are 20 coronavirus related deaths at the facility located on Tripps Lane in East Providence to date. Orchard View issued a public statement: “As you may know, this virus has impacted nursing homes at a disproportionately high rate. In Rhode Island, patients and staff have tested positive in dozens of centers. Sadly, Orchard View has been significantly impacted. We are devastated that patients in our care have contracted this virus. We are doing all we can to treat them and our thoughts are with those patients inflicted with this virus and their loved ones.”

“This pandemic has been an incredibly challenging time, and we are working every day to ensure that we provide the safest possible care at Orchard View. At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, we initiated a series of protections aimed at mitigating the threat of coronavirus at our center. These included restricting visitors to our buildings, dramatically increasing the cleaning and infection control measures, taking the temperature of anyone who entered our center, and increasing the monitoring of all residents at every shift.”

The nursing home went on to say that they are reaching out to families as best as possible due to the staffing shortage. “Due to staffing issues, we are addressing our recent communication issues with our phone lines. Our recent email to families should help them better reach us and we will resume our weekly email blasts and conference calls shortly. We also want to thank the East Providence community and Mayor DaSilva for their support, kind words of encouragement, and amazing gestures to the Orchard Grove Team! We’re all in this together and we appreciate you standing with us,” continued the Orchard View statement.

Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, director of the R.I. Department of Health confirms that most of the deaths in Rhode Island related to the coronavirus have occurred at nursing homes or similar facilities.

“We are doing all we can to fully staff the center, and there have been no interruptions in care. We have asked the state for staffing assistance to ensure that our patients continue to receive the care they need moving forward,” said Orchard View management. “Currently these are the staffing levels: First shift 34 staff, second shift 24 staff and third shift 12 staff.”

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