MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Officials at Sundale Nursing Home in Morgantown are continuing to monitor 29 patients and staff members that have tested positive for the coronavirus.
Monday marked eight days since the nursing home received confirmation of its first positive case, according to Sundale Medical Director Dr. Carl Shrader.
“We still have 17 of the positive residents here in-house,” Shrader said. “Three are still at Ruby Memorial and one is at Mon Health in ICU.”
Additionally, eight staff members are quarantining at home. Luckily, with new technological advances like the new Remote Health care Patient Monitoring systems, health care workers can now monitor their patients without having to come in contact with them.
Shrader said they are taking temperatures every four hours on all residents, continuing to treat the COVID-19 patients in an isolated wing and every eight hours they are washing off the residents with alcohol.
He said extensive cleaning and sanitizing work is ongoing.
“Panhandle Cleaning and Restoration is coming today to decontaminate again, the hall areas of all the units,” Shrader said. “Environmental Services is focusing on patient rooms where they continue to clean bed rails, telephones, remotes and switches-all the things we touch with our hands.”
The COVID-19 patients are being treated by six workers, Shrader said they have secured housing for the workers and they receive a pay differential.
“I feel the next few days are very critical to know what we have,” Shrader said. “We feel like we’re in a holding pattern right now, people are stable to improved and that’s reassuring to us.”