Medfield Nursing Home Passes First Round Of State Checks

MEDFIELD, MA — Medfield's long-term care facility was deemed "in adherence" in the first round of inspections by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

The Thomas Upham House scored a perfect 28 out of a 28 points in its inspection of coronavirus protocol. In the first round of clinical audits, 228 of the state's 360 nursing homes were deemed "in adherence" with coronavirus protocols. Another 119 nursing homes hit the 20-point threshold but failed in one of the six core standards in the inspection check list, meaning they were also found to be in noncompliance.

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.

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.