One coronavirus death linked to Libby Care Center

The Libby Care Center of Cascadia reported its first resident death from the coronavirus on Oct. 29.

“All of us at the Libby Care Center are incredibly saddened by this tragedy and join with the resident’s family and the larger community in mourning our loss,” staff said in a Facebook post.

Center employees were still caring for one resident with the virus, according to the announcement. Care center staff said they are continuing to work with the Lincoln County Health Department and are following current guidelines for addressing the virus released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The post did not mention if any staff members are positive for the virus.

Libby Care Center and Cascadia Healthcare staff did not respond to requests for comments made last week.

Rachel Toland, administrator of the Libby nursing home, had previously voiced concerns in public about how an exposure at her facility could lead to a major outbreak within days. In August, she told Libby City Council that a single case could knock the facility out for upwards of six weeks.

“Our sister facility in Kellogg had its first case [Aug. 7] and within three days half of the residents were affected and a third of the staff,” she said at the meeting.

Two weeks ago, health officials confirmed that two residents and two employees at the Libby Care Center tested for the virus.

The residents who contracted the virus were isolated in private rooms with dedicated staff, according to Steve LaForte, director of corporate affairs for Cascadia Healthcare. The employees who contracted the virus were sent home for self-isolation and treatment, Workers deemed asymptomatic could return to work but only to serve patients who were positive for the virus, according to LaForte.

Prior to the outbreak, Toland said employees were screened to assess the risk of them having contracted the virus. While in the facility, Toland said workers don scrubs and masks. Every week, employees are tested using an in-house system.

Less than two weeks before reporting the confirmed case at the Libby Care Center, Toland said staff members were preparing to reopen their facility. Concerned about the toll that isolation was taking on their residents, administrators planned to resume in-person visitation on Oct. 5.

Following the two test results, La Forte said care center administrators limited outside visitors.

Local health care officials have warned that the spread of the coronavirus within the center would prove devastating. While praising the efforts of staff to keep the virus out of the facility, Dr. Gregory Rice told Troy City Councilors that a single infection would be a serious public health concern.

“The biggest threat to a ton of people dying in this community is the Libby Care Center,” Rice said.

In addition to housing elderly residents who generally have a higher risk of getting severely ill from COVID-19, Rice said care centers are particularly susceptible to outbreaks since residents cannot be expected to wear masks and most facilities do not have ventilation systems capable of mitigating the airflow carrying the virus.

An outbreak of the virus at a Flathead County nursing home in September validated Rice’s concerns. The Daily Inter Lake reported that 13 residents at the Whitefish Care and Rehabilitation Center died after 52 tested positive for the virus. Reports, however, documented severe negligence from staff — including rooming residents who tested positive for the virus with those who had tested negative — contributed to the outbreak.