Standing strong for the residents at Kane Glen Hazel – at least 18 dead due to COVID-19

At least 18 residents at facility have died due to coronavirus

by Rob Taylor Jr.
Courier Staff Writer
Data released last Tuesday, May 19, from the Pennsylvania Department of Health provided Hazelwood community leaders with an answer to their most pressing question—exactly how much has coronavirus affected the Kane Glen Hazel Community Living Center?

The answer—way too much.

There have been more than 100 positive cases of COVID-19 for residents and employees at Kane Glen Hazel, 18 of those cases resulting in resident deaths, as of May 19.

As the state reported its numbers, it showed there were 104 positive cases of coronavirus for residents at Glen Hazel, and 30 additional cases for employees, as of May 19. But as of May 22, Allegheny County, which runs the Kane Regional Centers (including Glen Hazel), reported there were only 78 coronavirus cases with residents, but 43 positive cases with employees at Glen Hazel.

No matter how you slice it, the numbers are high. Kane Glen Hazel has, far and away, the most number of positive cases (employees and residents) of any assisted living/long-term care facility in Allegheny County, and has the third-most deaths, behind St. Barnabas (31), in Richland, and Caring Heights (28), in Coraopolis, as of May 19.

Statewide, Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center, in Beaver County, has the most resident coronavirus cases (358) and deaths (76), as of May 19.

Allegheny County’s Kane Regional Community Centers (Glen Hazel, McKeesport, Ross Township, Scott Township) provide care mostly to seniors, including 24-hour skilled nursing care, Alzheimer’s and memory care, hospice care, pastoral care, respite care, social services, community involvement,  and short-term rehabilitation.

But it’s been the Glen Hazel location, 955 Rivermont Drive, just off Johnston Avenue, that’s been front-and-center on the local news about coronavirus cases.  The facility had its first case of coronavirus in an employee on March 25. Two days later, the county reported it had positive cases of coronavirus in two Glen Hazel residents.

And the cases kept coming.

TERRI SHIELDS, chair of the Greater Hazelwood Community Collaborative, wants to see a better working relationship between the group and Allegheny County officials, after the disturbing number of deaths at Kane Glen Hazel Community Living Center. (Photo by J.L. Martello)

So much so that those such as Terri Shields, chair of the Greater Hazelwood Community Collaborative, and Tim Smith, founder of Center of Life, in Hazelwood, became concerned with the seemingly daily reports of new coronavirus cases at their neighborhood facility. By the time the tenth death from COVID-19 was reported at the Glen Hazel facility on April 28, it was all Hazelwood was talking about.

A few weeks later, on May 15, Hazelwood community leaders called a press conference in front of the facility. Shields, Pastor Lutual Love of Praise Temple Deliverance Church, and more demanded more transparency from county officials about just how bad COVID-19 was spreading at Glen Hazel.
Shields wanted to know at the time why employees had to “ask” for N-95 masks rather than the masks being a requirement for all employees. She wanted to know why those who had tested positive for coronavirus weren’t kept, say, on a separate floor, away from all other residents. She wanted to know why employees, many of whom don’t live in Hazelwood, were allowed to freely exit the facility and return to their neighborhoods and municipalities, knowing coronavirus was spreading in the facility.

And specific to Hazelwood, Shields said: “If the virus is spread in here (at the Glen Hazel facility), then the virus will spread in our community. We don’t need any more casualties.”

“It’s a conflict for us because we know that people are literally dying in here and that people are affected, and the numbers keep going up,” Smith, who is also a pastor, told the New Pittsburgh Courier’s J.L. Martello exclusively, May 15.

TIM SMITH, with Center of Life, in Hazelwood.

“We really want to work with our public officials,” Smith added. “We’re not trying to pick a fight, we’re not trying to create separation, we’re saying we need help, that’s what we’re saying. We all need help and we want to work together.”

At the time, the group wanted a meeting with County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, County Health Department Director Dr. Debra Bogen and County Councilman DeWitt Walton. The group, as of May 15, said they had a productive conversation with Dennis Biondo, executive director of the county’s Kane Regional Centers.
Coronavirus, as everyone knows by now, has its own mind. The virus can be spread via close contact via miniscule liquid droplets, it can remain on surfaces, and there were even unsubstantiated reports that it could be contracted in the air. Some states like New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania have had high numbers of coronavirus cases, while other states like West Virginia, Kentucky and Kansas have seen relatively low COVID-19 numbers. Some people have reported that they’ve quarantined in the house for weeks and still contracted coronavirus, while others who are front-facing essential workers have come into contact with the public for weeks and have escaped the virus.

REV. LUTUAL LOVE of Praise Temple Deliverance Church in Hazelwood.

Thus, there’s no rhyme or reason as to why Kane Glen Hazel has seen such an outbreak of coronavirus cases, while the other three Kane locations combined have seen just one positive coronavirus case in a resident (McKeesport), and no deaths, according to county data as of May 22. There has been one employee who has tested positive in each of the other three locations as of May 22.

It’s just the way this devastating virus works. And because of its unpredictability and its ability to remain incognito, it’s caused an economic disruption and human death toll not seen in the United States in more than 100 years.

“Our long-term care facilities are an integral part of Pennsylvania’s health care system. People providing care in long-term care facilities must endure these challenges of this difficult time while maintaining continuity and services for people under their care,” said state Department of Human Services Secretary Teresa Miller in a May 19 statement, as the data for long-term care facilities was released statewide. “We are committed to continuing networks of support for these facilities so we can navigate and overcome this challenge together.”

The state data also revealed that the Village at Pennwood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, in Wilkinsburg, had at least 41 positive coronavirus cases and nine resident deaths as of May 19; and the Quiet Ridge Manor Group in McKeesport had 17 positive COVID-19 cases and seven resident deaths as of May 19.

Out of the 36 assisted living facilities in Allegheny County listed in the state report, most of the facilities’ death totals were redacted if the number was four or less. Five facilities in Allegheny County have at least five deaths.

Allegheny County said fever checks as staff enter and leave Glen Hazel and its other facilities are being conducted, and fever checks are being conducted on all residents at each shift change.

There is also a no-visitor policy, and all resident trips outside of the centers have been postponed.

The Greater Hazelwood Community Collaborative has its collaborative eye on the Glen Hazel facility. They said they’re operating in the best interests of the residents and employees of the facility, and how that translates into the betterment of the Hazelwood community at-large.

“We are not blaming anybody for anything,” Smith told the Courier exclusively, May 15. “We’re saying we want to sit down at the same table (with local officials) and work toegether to try to come up with some solutions…We can’t take the for-profit attitude and say, ‘we’re gonna cut our losses and move on.’ We have to do something that’s going to make a difference.”

 

MEMBERS OF THE GREATER HAZELWOOD COMMUNITY COLLABORATIVE held a press conference outside Kane Glen Hazel Community Living Center on May 15, demanding a better working relationship with Allegheny County officials pertaining to the at least 18 coronavirus-related deaths at the facility. (Photo by Courier photographer J.L. Martello)

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