All But One Danvers Nursing Home Fail First State Inspections

DANVERS, MA — The Twin Oaks Rehab and Nursing Center in Danvers scored 19 out of 28 in the first round of adherence checks by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, making it one of just 12 nursing homes in the state to fail to meet the 20-point threshold for compliance.

Another 119 nursing homes hit the 20-point threshold but failed in one of the six core standards, meaning they were also found to be in noncompliance. The remaining 228 nursing homes scored 20 points or higher, including meeting the six core standards.

The inspections were the first in the COVID-19 Nursing Facility Accountability and Support Program announced by Gov. Charlie Baker on April 27. The audits, which are funded by $130 million the Baker administration allocated to slow the spread of the coronavirus in nursing homes, will be conducted every two weeks.

There have been more than 30 confirmed COVID-19 cases at Twin Oaks, which is licensed for 100 beds. Danvers has one of the highest rates of coronavirus infection in the state. Officials have attributed the high case count to the town's five nursing homes, which account for the majority of COVID-19 cases in Danvers.

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Other Danvers nursing homes included in the report:

• New England Homes for the Deaf scored 25 out of 28 and was listed as being in adherence by the state.
• Brentwood Rehab and Health Care Center scored 22 out of 28 but was labeled as not being in adherence because it missed at least one of the six core compliance points.
• Hathorne Hill scored 23 out of 28 but was labeled as not being in adherence because it missed at least one of the six core compliance points.
• Hunt Nursing and Rehab Center scored 24 out of 28 but was labeled as not being in adherence because it missed at least one of the six core compliance points.

The state didn't release a breakdown of scores for individual nursing homes showing where they failed to comply with the standards laid out in the program's compliance checklist.

Long-term care facilities account for 61 percent coronavirus-related deaths in Massachusetts. Of the states 88,970 confirmed coronavirus cases as of Wednesday, 18,801 were either patients or workers in long-term care facilities.

Read the complete nursing home inspection report.

More Coronavirus Coverage On Massachusetts Patch:

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• Coronavirus Case Counts For Every Massachusetts Town (Updated May 20)

Dave Copeland writes for Patch and can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).