LI Group Calls For Nursing Home Reform After Coronavirus Deaths

WEST ISLIP, NY — A group of Long Islanders are demanding answers from nursing homes after some of their loved ones died of the new coronavirus. Deer Park resident Vivian Zayas, who brought her mother to the Our Lady of Consolation Nursing and Rehabilitative Care Center in West Islip earlier this year, is one of them.

Zayas brought her 78-year-old mother, Ana Celia Martinez, who originally lived in Brooklyn, to Long Island to undergo knee surgery late last year. They expected her to go through surgery followed by a few months of rehabilitation before going back to her apartment better than ever.

However, after the surgery in August, Martinez continued to have trouble walking and began to develop other issues. Eventually in January, the family sent her to the local nursing home to recover and to receive some extra therapy for her leg. They had predicted she would need to be there until mid-February until she was able to go home. At the end of February, the family was still unable to bring her home, and news of the coronavirus was starting to garner national attention, but it was still not a huge concern on Long Island.

Related: Woman Blames Long Beach Care Facility After Sister Dies

March rolled around and Martinez was still at the nursing home but starting to get homesick. The family was attempting to apply more pressure to find a way to bring her home but on March 11, the facility announced a temporary closure to visitors due to coronavirus concerns. The family, who thought the closure would last two or three weeks, visited her one last time before the shutdown.

"I said [to my mom] listen, keep yourself busy, watch the news, we'll see you soon," Zayas told Patch. "And we gave her a kiss, I gave her a kiss on her forehead. And I never thought that that would be my last kiss to her."

The family continued communication by calling and they found out Martinez begun feeling sick. Zayas said she had stomach issues and that the nurses at the nursing home were giving her something for nausea and diarrhea. Her mother then began experiencing loss of appetite.

"I had spreadsheets to keep on track for medicine or trips or doctors, and we were very much on top of every single thing that involved my mom. But when it came to COVID, we weren't sure," Zayas said. "We didn't know anything. We didn't inform ourselves thinking that this was far away in the distance, especially since this facility in a remote area in West Islip and the hot zone was more in the city. We were like, okay, you know, she's safe there.

"Initially, I didn't also pay attention to the signs because I'm thinking if anything is going on in that facility, they would tell me. They called me when my mother had a small fall in the facility. They also called me when they needed my mother's rheumatoid arthritis injections, which I had. So I'm thinking if they call me for those issues, they would call me to tell me, 'Hey, there's COVID and your mother is being monitored.'"

Zayas claims that the center sent one letter informing the families that the nursing home was "taking extra precautions and following the CDC guidelines to protect the residents," but never received any mention of cases of the coronavirus within the facility.

Martinez continued to experience symptoms, at one point suffering from a low-grade fever. But Zayas stated she was never told by anyone at the nursing home that there was any suspicion of her mother contracting the coronavirus.

"I had a false sense of security and I thought ... Why would they not tell me what it is if they if they suspect what it is?'" Zayas said.

Then, Zayas' sister, Alexa Rivera, was told that Martinez was having trouble breathing. The doctor asked Rivera several questions related to Martinez's health, including if she was a smoker, but never mentioned the coronavirus. On March 30, several hours after Martinez was having difficulty breathing, the doctor informed the family they were sending her to the nearby Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center.

"This was the first time that a nurse said 'Your mother's been exposed to a respiratory issue.' They still won't use the word COVID," Zayas said. "They told me she's been exposed to a respiratory issue. But this is after my mother's been sick showing symptoms for at least five days. I'm still thinking pneumonia. I'm still thinking bronchitis. I'm not thinking COVID. I wouldn't think that with COVID all over the news, they would have a trouble saying COVID, coronavirus, whatever you want to call it."

On March 31, Rivera was informed Martinez was put on a respirator with a collapsed lung. She seemed to be improving for a little bit and received a coronavirus test at the hospital, but did not receive a diagnosis. The next day, the family received news that Martinez died.

"How in the world did I get from my mother going home finally to my mother's gonna go home to heaven?" Zayas said.

Later, the family received the results of the test which confirmed Martinez tested positive for the coronavirus.

"We were wondering why would [the facility] say they didn't know what she had when they clearly close the doors for many of us who didn't have COVID so that we couldn't give it to [the residents], but you're taking patients that were positive through the back door," Zayas said. "[The facility] didn't inform the family but they were making [patients] comfortable so that you can get them out of out of your facility so that they're not part of your number count of your death tally."

This is when Zayas and Rivera started the Facebook group "Voices For Seniors" to share their story and find out if they were alone. In about a month, the group has grown to more than 300 members.

Local residents aren't the only ones calling for change. Earlier this month, two Long Island assemblymen called for a deeper investigation into nursing homes and other long-term care facilities reporting high rates of deaths due to the coronavirus. In April, New York officials released data which revealed that at least 13 Long Island nursing had 10 deaths or more related to the coronavirus outbreak, and seven of them saw more than 20 deaths as of Thursday.

Thousands of nursing home residents have died from the virus in New York, according to the data. A New York State Department of Health directive stated that nursing home and other long-term care facilities across the state that accepted patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 most likely led to the deaths and/or infections of thousands of the most vulnerable citizens.

On Sunday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced new measures to protect seniors and nursing home residents which would require nursing homes to transfer residents if they are not capable of providing proper care, including meeting staffing and protective equipment requirements. In addition, nursing home staff must also be tested twice a week for COVID-19 and hospitals cannot discharge patients to a nursing home until they test negative. Penalties for not complying could include losing operating licenses.

In response to these claims, Catholic Health Services, which runs Our Lady of Consolation, released the following statement:

"We regularly test residents so we can quickly identify who might be positive in order to protect those who are not. We keep symptomatic residents separate from our general population and maintain infection prevention control precautions when treating these residents. Additionally, we are vigilant in monitoring staff and residents for any COVID-19 symptoms and immediately take appropriate steps, if symptoms should appear. There is constant ongoing communication with each patient and their family members. We follow all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the New York State Department of Health recommendations."

On Mother's Day Sunday, members of the group Voices for Senior protested in front of Our Lady of Consolation.

According to Zayas, the protest was to ask for the following:

• For the families of deceased seniors to speak with Gov. Cuomo.
• An update CDC guidelines and NY Department of Health guidelines to reflect the seniors' increased vulnerability in these centers and in these situations.
• Increase communication with family.
• Improved equipment for seniors to communicate (such as senior-friendly iPads, etc.).
• No more shutdowns that exclude families and visits entirely.

"It’s very unfortunate that this group would stage a protest on Mother’s Day," a statement from Catholic Health Services read. "We have a long history of providing quality care to all residents, and we have staff, nurses and doctors who are mothers. They have dedicated themselves to providing quality care and ensuring the safety our of residents throughout this pandemic. There is constant ongoing communication with each patient and their family members."

All photos courtesy of Vivian Zayas