State health officials have released coronavirus infection and death statistics from individual nursing homes after declining to reveal the data for more than two months.
The data shows that just over half of the people who have died from COVID-19 infections in Indiana, or 1,390 out of 2,683 deaths, were residents of long-term care facilities. More than 43 long-term-care facilities statewide had 10 or more residents die from the disease.
In Bartholomew County, at least 12 of the 45 people who have died from the virus were residents of three local long-term care facilities, according to the Indiana State Department of Health.
Four Seasons Retirement Center, 1901 Taylor Road, reported that 37 residents and 27 staff members were infected with COVID-19 and 12 residents died, according to the Indiana State Department of Health.
Miller’s Merry Manor in Hope, 7440 N. County Road 825E, reported 18 infections among residents, five among staff, and that fewer than five residents died.
Several other local nursing homes may be in the data, but The Republic could not confirm that the facilities were those actually in Bartholomew County as the state did not list addresses for each reporting facility.
The list of long-term-care facilities includes sites from across state, some independent and some owned by large, out-of-state chains.
Eighty-three facilities across Indiana saw five or fewer residents die from COVID-19. Around the state, 12 staffers of long-term-care facilities have died. The spreadsheet doesn’t break the staff deaths out by facility. Officials said facility-specific data on staff deaths will not be made public for privacy reasons, because there are too few staff deaths.
Across the state, an east-side Indianapolis nursing home had the highest number of COVID-19 deaths in the state, with 38 residents who died, according to the database. Harrison Terrace, 1924 Wellesley Blvd., topped the list of 756 long-term-care facilities reporting deaths and infections to the Indiana State Department of Health.
Harrison Terrace is owned by Health and Hospital Corp. of Marion County and is managed by American Senior Communities. Officials at the 110-bed facility or American Senior Communities could not be reached for comment.
Three other facilities around the state have experienced at least 30 deaths, according to the data.
Other facilities with a large number of residential deaths from COVID-19 include Greenwood Meadows (35 deaths) North Woods Village (33), Diversicare of Providence (31), Dyer Nursing and Rehabilitation Center (24), Homewood Health Campus (24), Brownsburg Meadows Assisted Living (22), Northwest Manor Healthcare Center (21) and Saint Anthony-Crown Point (21).
Nursing homes across the country have been devastated by COVID-19 deaths as elderly people and those with serious health troubles living in nursing homes are among the most at-risk from severe illness due to the coronavirus, The Associated Press reported.
Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb and other state officials in April stopped identifying specific nursing homes with outbreaks, despite complaints from relatives of home residents about a lack of communication about illnesses and deaths. State officials have maintained that those facilities face federal and state requirements to notify the families about their COVID-19 status.
Dan Rusyniak, chief medical officer for Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, said the state’s policy change to release the data comes after the largest associations that represent and lobby for long-term care facilities and AARP expressed their support for providing facility-level information.
Nearly 49% of people who have died from the virus in Bartholomew County were at least 80 years old, according to ISDH. An additional 17.8% were between the ages of 70 and 79, and 22.2% were in their 60s.
Younger people, however, are not immune from the worst consequences of the virus. A total of 2.2% of the people who have died from the virus in Bartholomew County were in their 30s, and 11% were younger than age 60.
The Associated Press and the Indiana Business Journal contributed to this report.
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Data about COVID-19 infections and deaths in Indiana’s nursing home facilities is located at www.coronavirus.in.gov/2393.htm.
Is is under the link Indiana COVID-19 Data Report, under Additional Resources.
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