Coronavirus: Secrecy Pierced At Burr Ridge Facility

BURR RIDGE, IL — The Harvester Place assisted living facility in Burr Ridge told families this week 10 residents and four employees had tested positive for the coronavirus. This is information that the facility's parent company did not want to release to the wider public.

On Friday, Burr Ridge Patch obtained Harvester's letters to families since March 10 about the coronavirus situation. This information came a day after Anthem Memory Care, the chain that owns Harvester, told Patch it would not publicly release its coronavirus numbers, saying such information goes to families. The most recent letter that Patch obtained was from Wednesday.

In its letters, Anthem did not indicate that any Harvester residents have died as the result of the coronavirus. But it said in Wednesday's letter that 10 residents who have tested positive for the coronavirus are "in house." So the number may not include those residents who have gone to the hospital because of the coronavirus and possibly died.

In an April 7 letter, Anthem announced to families that Harvester's executive director, Carole Considine, tested positive for the virus. She has been on leave as a result. Under an "abundance of caution," the facility's director of clinical services, Joan Mulryan, was sent home to self-quarantine for the remainder of last week.

On Monday, the grandson of a resident informed the Burr Ridge Village Board that Harvester had a number of coronavirus cases, including his grandmother. He questioned whether the facility was being transparent with the public about the extent of the problem.

"I hope you keep an eye on them," the man told the board. "I don't trust the corporation."

In a statement Thursday, Anthem said it has fully complied with the reporting requirements to the DuPage County Health Department and the state Department of Public Health. The health department has not been reporting numbers at nursing homes and assisted living facilities, which have become hotbeds for the coronavirus.

But the state Department of Public Health indicated Thursday it was compiling a facility-by-facility list on the impact of the coronavirus. In its statement, the department reported 1,587 cases associated with long-term care facilities, including assisted living, have been confirmed as of Thursday. That includes 296 deaths. The agency said 305 facilities have had residents and staff with the coronavirus and 125 facilities have had virus-related deaths.

In late March, Burr Ridge Patch obtained letters to families from Brookdale nursing home indicating it had three residents and an employee who had tested positive with the coronarvirus.

A few days earlier, in an email listed as confidential, Burr Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso told the village board about a Brookdale resident testing positive while at the hospital for another reason. "We have been asked to keep this update confidential for now. Pls do so," Grasso told the trustees.

Even after Patch obtained a letter to families about the first case at Brookdale, the mayor said in his daily coronavirus bulletin that the person in the Brookdale situation was a former resident who was diagnosed after going to the hospital for a different reason. And he repeated his contention in the bulletin that no virus cases had been reported in Burr Ridge at that point, despite his confidential email to the contrary.

Shortly after, DuPage County began releasing the number of cases in each town. As of Thursday, the number, combined with the Cook County side of Burr Ridge, was 49.

Read more:

Illinois Coronavirus Update April 17: 25,733 Cases; 1,072 Deaths

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