Four more deaths reported at Riverbend facility, bringing death toll to 19

Four more COVID-19 deaths were reported on Thursday from the Riverbend post-acute rehabilitation facility near 78th and Freeman in Kansas City, Kansas, according to figures from the Unified Government Health Department.

The death toll there is now 19 persons, according to UG figures. In all 92 residents have tested positive, 24 staff members tested positive and 10 residents were reported in the hospital on Thursday.

During the 5 p.m. UG Board of Health meeting, UG Health Department officials said Riverbend is the biggest COVID-19 outbreak in the state of Kansas.

“I am saddened to see so many people impacted by COVID-19, and to have lost more of our community members to this disease,” Dr. Allen Greiner, Wyandotte County chief medical officer, wrote in a letter to residents.

“Ever since we were first notified of confirmed cases at Riverbend, our staff have been in constant communication with Riverbend leadership to investigate and provide guidance. Our disease investigators have worked diligently to identify who may have been exposed and better understand how the disease spread within the facility. Our staff has provided supplies as well as guidance on staffing and operations to help them protect and take care of their residents and staff,” Dr. Greiner wrote in the letter.

Commissioner Mike Kane, whose district includes Riverbend, said at tonight’s meeting that residents of the area around the nursing home have been calling him with many questions about what’s going on and whether it is safe to go outside their homes.

Commissioner Kane said the UG needs to do a better job of informing people about what is happening and the steps they are taking, especially for people who don’t have access to a computer. The Health Department responded that they have taken many steps, including distributing fliers, doing interviews with the media, making videos and public service announcements, maintaining a COVID-19 website, posting updates to Facebook, and they will be sending out the UG’s print newsletter with more information early next week.

Dr. Greiner said in the letter that “the highest risk connected to the Riverbend cluster is for anyone who has spent time inside the facility, in close contact with residents who are infected.

“People in the surrounding neighborhoods who have not been inside the building or in close contact (within 6 feet for a total of 10 minutes) with someone who has COVID-19 are not likely to be at higher risk than anyone else living in Wyandotte County,” Dr. Greiner stated in the letter.

The UG Health Department prepared a report on the Riverbend facility that is online at https://www.wycokck.org/WycoKCK/media/Health-Department/Documents/Communicable%20Disease/COVID19/Riverbend-report-4-16-2020.pdf.

Dr. Greiner encouraged people to continue practicing good hygiene, wash their hands, cover their coughs and sneezes, stay home when sick, practice social distancing and stay home as much as possible, only leaving home for essential activities such as getting groceries.

The Health Department Riverbend report detailed what is known about the outbreak of COVID-19 cases there.

A timeline starts March 24-27 when a Riverbend staff member’s symptoms began, then the staff member reported to work with a cough and fever and was admitted to working without appropriate personal protective equipment, such as a mask, according to the report.

The Health Department thinks it was possible that many patients were exposed from March 27 to March 28, however, an investigation is still underway to determine if it was the initial exposure or if there was prior exposure at the facility, according to the report.

When the Riverbend staff member went to an emergency room on March 29, the worker was tested, according to the report. The test results came back positive March 30, with the Health Department receiving notification. Riverbend had not been notified at the time. The Health Department tried to contact the patient and was unable to reach the person, and didn’t have information on where the patient worked, according to the report.

The Health Department provided some eye protection and face shields after being contacted by Riverbend on March 31 for protective equipment.

On April 1, the UG Health Department was first notified about positive cases at Riverbend. Riverbend reached out to the UG Health Department. The Health Department was able to reach the patient on April 3.

Testing was expanded at the Riverbend facility, and the state KDHE also became involved. The Health Department worked with the nursing home and reviewed safety practices, and also consulted with KDHE. The facility also reported staffing shortages on April 8.

According to the report, the facility took action to separate well residents from sick residents, either keeping residents in their rooms, or moving the positive COVID-19 patients into one wing of the facility. Residents who tested negative could quarantine with their family.

Employees were screened, and their temperatures were taken. Any Riverbend employee with symptoms had a COVID-19 test, according to the Health Department. The Health Department also helped the facility find more staff after a shortage of staff developed.

The facility also closed its communal dining facility and its physical therapy gym, according to the report. Some patients were admitted to hospitals after they developed respiratory symptoms. More details about the Health Department’s response are listed in the report.

Some persons who test positive for COVID-19 have no symptoms at all, others are only mildly sick, some get severely ill and others do not have symptoms for a few days before getting sick, so it is not certain if the staff member who was sick on March 27 was the initial exposure at the Riverbend facility.