Data from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) on coronavirus cases in long-term-care facilities in the state showed that the Leavitt Family Jewish Home had the death toll, recording 66 deaths over its 180 beds (37%), according to local news sources.
More than 80 long-term-care facilities in Massachusetts had recorded at least 20 coronavirus related deaths, according to NBC Boston, citing data. Out of the just over 6,547 deaths in Massachusetts, a little more than 4,000 were residents of long-term-care facilities.
While the highest number of deaths reportedly came from the Leavitt Family Jewish Home in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, other nursing homes in the state had a similar number of deaths, such as Mary Immaculate Nursing Center in Lawrence with 64 deaths and Courtyard Nursing Care Center in Medford with 60 deaths, according to Boston public broadcasting service WGBH.Out of 360 nursing homes in the state, 350 nursing homes at least 90% of staff and residents tested positive, NBC Boston reported. The state has offered $130 million for the Nursing Facility and Accountability Program.
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker addressed the high number of deaths attributed to nursing homes in the state this week, and while he offered his condolences calling the situation an "enormous tragedy," he reported a trend of declining positive test results and death toll, according to WGBH.
In a letter Leavitt Family Jewish Home posted on its website on May 8, the nursing home also mentioned a positive trend of declining cases among its facilities.
"Fewer residents and staff are testing positive each week, and the number of residents and staff who have recovered is growing. A few residents have even gone home to reunite with grateful and relieved family members," they wrote.
Clinical auditors visited the Jewish nursing home's facility in May, and were reportedly impressed with the protocols that the nursing home had implemented. Staff at the nursing home are required to wear personal protective equipment, including masks, gowns, and gloves. A strict no visitor protocol has been implemented, and the nursing home has been hosting virtual family support group program as well as scheduling online family video calls for the residents' families.
The 66 deaths reported at the Jewish nursing home in May shows a rise of just over 40 deaths in the least month and half, in comparison to the cluster of deaths reported in early April.
In another letter the nursing home posted in April showed the positive action the home was trying to take, such as asking staff with symptoms to stay home and increased monitoring of residents and staff.
They added that despite their actions to stop the spread withing the home they were "were blinded by both limited access to testing and overly restrictive criteria to test." This led them to take proactive action, as they contracted a private lab to "private lab to begin the process of wide-scale testing of the residents" from the nursing home.
In late April the DPH visited the Jewish nursing home. According to a letter the nursing home facility posted on its website in, the DPH was "very impressed with our protocols and operations and noted the high bar we set for other organizations."