LA PLATA, Md. - A government official tells FOX 5 that of the 101 COVID-19 cases Charles County’s Health Department is reporting across its nursing and assisted living facilities, 96 of them are connected to the same company: Sagepoint Senior Living Services.
This information supports the numbers also reported to FOX 5’s Ike Ejiochi by multiple Sagepoint employees, who spoke out on the situation there out of concern for other employees and residents.
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First on Fox 5: Volunteer nurse turned away from Charles County senior home struck by outbreak
FOX 5's Ike Ejiochi reports on a Charles County senior living facility where two people died from COVID-19 complications Saturday.
Sagepoint Living Services operates three facilities, two of which are located in Charles County.
FOX 5 DC been digging into concerns over how management at the Sagepoint nursing facility in La Plata handled its coronavirus response.
Officials from both Sagepoint Senior Living Services and the county’s health department held a news conference on Friday. The facility’s spokesperson, Joyce Riggs, told reporters then that the facility has been transparent, reporting cases to family members involved and the state.
However, neither Sagepoint or state officials would confirm how many positive COVID-19 cases the senior living facility was dealing with.
On Friday, the president of the association representing Charles County’s professional paramedics and EMTs told FOX 5 DC they’re not even being told of a potential outbreak as their members continue to respond to emergency calls at the facility.
Saturday evening, the Charles County Health Department issued a press release saying the health department had identified 101 cases of COVID-19 “in county nursing homes and assisted living facilities including those at Sagepoint Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.”
The press release also read, “To maintain patient confidentiality, no additional details will be provided.”
Both the Charles County’s Health Department and facility claim federal regulations are the reason they cannot report confirmed coronavirus cases to the public, even though many of Maryland’s county health departments have been publicly reporting their positive cases – all also under the same federal guidelines.
On Sunday, the Maryland Department of Health announced 370 COVID-19 cases in Charles County, with 17 deaths. The 101 cases identified at nursing and assisted facilities across the county make up a little over 27% of the county’s overall COVID-19 cases.
The Maryland Department of Health currently only lists 42 positive cases in the 20646 zip code, where Sagepoint’s Senior Living Services and Sagepoint Gardens Assisted Living facilities are located.
Zip code 20678, the Calvert County location where Sagepoint Home Care is located, shows 26 confirmed COVID-19 cases, also according to the state’s health department website.
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