Coronavirus Stafford: Johnson Memorial Hospital Patient Dies

STAFFORD, CT — A fifth Connecticut resident, and first from outside Fairfield County, has died from complications due to the coronavirus, or COVID-19. The elderly man had briefly been a resident of Evergreen Health Care in Stafford, and had most recently been receiving treatment at Johnson Memorial Hospital before passing away Friday.

To register for free Stafford and Willington news alerts and more, click here.

The man, said to be in his 80s by Evergreen officials, had been a short-term patient from March 3-10 at the health care center, and was later admitted to Johnson in respiratory distress. He was diagnosed with the coronavirus on March 18, and died two days later.

Evergreen released the following statement about the case Saturday night:

We are sad to report that this afternoon, we were informed that a former patient of Evergreen Health Care Center passed away today, and the state has informed us that this former patient had tested positive for Covid-19. This short-term patient was in our care from March 3 to March 10. He was admitted to Evergreen after hospitalization for his exacerbation of pre-existing conditions, including chronic respiratory failure, hypoxia, and congestive heart failure. He was discharged to a hospital while suffering from respiratory distress. He did not return to Evergreen after being discharged. We understand that this patient was tested on March 18 for Covid-19 and passed away on March 20 at the hospital.

Upon learning this news this afternoon, we conducted a review to identify all individuals who may have come into contact with the former resident, and are providing those names to the Department of Public Health. We are working with the state to assist in determining the origin of his exposure to Covid-19.

Since Wednesday, we have conducted a deep clean of our building. Our short-term stay unit, where this individual stayed during the week he was with us, remains under quarantine.

At the start of this pandemic, we initiated a series of protections aimed at mitigating the threat of Coronavirus at our center. These include restricting visitors to Evergreen, taking the temperature of anyone who enters the facility, requiring anyone who enters the facility to complete a health questionnaire, and increasing monitoring of all residents every day.
We continue to follow the guidance of the CT DPH’s Licensure and Epidemiology divisions. We also continue to take the temperatures of all of our patients at every shift since last weekend. Last week, we began taking temperatures and requiring completion of a health questionnaire for all staff at the beginning of each shift. We are continuing this practice.

There is no greater priority for us than the health and safety of our residents and staff. Our thoughts are with our former patient’s family. We understand this is a difficult time for our residents and their families, and we want them to know that we are doing everything in our control to provide a safe environment. We also want to thank our many staff for their commitment to the health of all our residents - they inspire us every day.