Failure to Quarantine Infected Patients or Staff Members

As COVID-19 spreads and there are outbreaks across the country, nursing homes have a special obligation to keep residents and staff safe. Nursing homes have proven to be especially common areas for COVID-19 outbreaks, with several outbreaks at these types of facilities.

This is partly because nursing home staff may be exposed to the COVID-19 virus outside the facility and may bring it in during work hours. In addition, nursing homes are interior places where the virus can spread more easily. Nursing homes also usually involve large groups of people coming together to live together, which also increases the risk of COVID-19 exposure.

One of the things nursing homes in Hollywood and across South Florida can do is to carefully monitor residents and staff members and quarantine anyone who shows symptoms or anyone who has been exposed to COVID-19. There are many things that nursing homes can do to help quarantine infected staff members and residents:

• They can test staff and residents regularly
• They can take the temperatures of residents and staff and monitor symptoms
• They can create a separate area or wing where residents and staff with COVID-19 can be separated from the rest of the population
• They can have a written plan in place in case an elderly resident is placed in the hospital and then has to come home after testing positive

We have already seen cases across the country where nursing homes have failed to take these precautions and tragedy has resulted. In some nursing homes, there have been outbreaks of COVID-19, with a high percentage of residents and staff getting the illness. In these cases, unfortunately, it is elderly residents who have paid the price and many have ended up dying as a result.

One of the preventable tragedies of the COVID-19 situation is that in many cases cross-contamination occurs. That is, a staff member will work with residents who have COVID-19 or who have tested positive for COVID-19 and that same staff member will then go and work with residents who don’t yet have the disease. Even after washing hands thoroughly, the virus can be transferred to non-affected residents, allowing the disease to spread. For this reason, it is essential that nursing homes keep staff and residents with COVID-19 completely separate from everyone else.

If you have an elderly loved one in a nursing home, ask the nursing home what steps they are taking to protect your family member. Make sure that the nursing home has a plan for monitoring for COVID-19 symptoms and a plan for separating nursing home staff and residents who may have COVID-19.

If your loved one has suffered from COVID-19 after a nursing home failed to properly isolate residents, you may have a claim to seek compensation so you can pay for your loved one’s medical care and for safer housing for them. Contact Flaxman Law Group to discuss your legal options and to find out whether you have a claim. Right now, our legal team is offering our free, no obligation case consultations through safe virtual settings and telephone consultations to keep you and your family member safe.