The Lutheran Home at 800 West Oakton Street in Arlington Heights reported on Tuesday May 5, 2020 that fourteen residents recently tested positive for Coronavirus COVID-19. The Lutheran Home initially reported on Tuesday morning that four patients tested positive in one unit. The nursing home reported on Tuesday afternoon that nine additional patients tested positive in the unit, and reported that one person tested positive in an adjacent unit.
The Lutheran Home campus has over 900 associates and residents.
According to the Lutheran Home, if sufficient quantities of COVID-19 test kits are available, the Lutheran Home intends to test every resident and associate on the Lutheran Home campus.
Lutheran Home Following Strict Guidelines for Senior Living Communities
At Lutheran Home, we continue to actively follow the strict guidelines for senior living communities as directed by the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and IDPH as follows:
Restrict all visitation except for certain compassionate care situations, such as end of life residents
Restrict all volunteers and non-essential health care personnel (e.g., barbers)
Active screening of residents and health care personnel for fever and respiratory symptoms
Universal masking for all associates and external caregivers
Four symptomatic residents of the home’s advanced memory care unit tested positive for COVID-19 in a report Tuesday afternoon May 5, 2020. The patients were tested after they exhibited symptoms. When they tested positive, they were moved to a designated isolation unit. Fourteen other residents in the same memory care wing were tested. Nine tested positive and five tested negative.
One Lutheran Home resident also tested positive in a different advanced memory care wing that is an adjacent unit located on the same floor as the advanced memory care unit with the total 13 positive COVID-19 patients. Lutheran Home as of Wednesday May 6, 2020 was awaiting results after testing the 17 other residents in the second advanced memory care unit.
The outbreak involves the first known Coronavirus cases at the Lutheran Home, and the first known outbreak of Coronavirus patients among several senior living community facilities that are located in the Village of Arlington Heights (including Cedar Village of Arlington Heights, Church Creek, ManorCare at Arlington Heights, The Moorings of Arlington Heights, The Reserve at Arlington Heights (formerly Autumn Leaves of Arlington Heights), Transitional Care of Arlington Heights (classified as short term rehabilitative and post-acute care), and Waverly Inn Memory Care Community).
Four employees at the Lutheran Home tested positive since April 2020, and some other employees have shown respiratory symptoms, according to updates on Lutheran Home’s website. On May 6, 2020 the Lutheran Home reported that one Lutheran Home associate who works on an advanced memory care unit within the healthcare center tested positive for COVID-19. The associate last worked on Monday May 4, 2020.
Lutheran Home is working with the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) to secure the appropriate number of test kits which would allow broadly expanded resident and associate testing across our campus. If we receive sufficient quantities of COVID-19 test kits, our intention is to test every resident and associate on our campus.
The Lutheran Home is working with the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) to increase COVID-19 testing at the Lutheran Home.
The new data has not yet reached the Long-Term Care Facility Outbreaks COVID-19 report from the IDPH that was last updated May 1, 2020 at the time of publishing this article.
According to at least one local business vendor for the Lutheran Home, the Lutheran Home was extremely diligent while screening outside employees that were on site to provide service to the Lutheran Home.
Nearby, ManorCare Elk Grove Village has reported 2 cases, Landmark of Des Plaines has reported 39 cases and 13 deaths, and Brookdale Des Plaines has reported 7 cases and 1 death.
The Lutheran Home first began reporting issues with Coronavirus (COVID-19) on April 3, 2020. The Lutheran Home reported that on April 1, 2020 a team member not involved with direct patient care called off work with symptoms associated with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), and that the team member tested positive on April 3, 2020. The associate last worked at Lutheran Home on March 31. The Lutheran Home actively implemented protocols as set forth by the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) to protect residents, patients and team members.
On May 2, 2020 the Lutheran Home reported that three Lutheran Home associates had new-onset respiratory symptoms in the last 72 hours. One of the three is the associate who tested positive for COVID-19, as detailed above. When these associates began experiencing symptoms, they did not return to work. The associates reported their symptoms to their supervisors. These associates will return to work based on local public health department guidance and Lutheran Home policy.
The facility does not yet appear on the state health department’s extensive online list that tracks COVID-19 cases at long-term care facilities. The database was last updated Friday and is updated weekly. But state officials caution that lag time and discrepancies are to be expected since facilities first report data to their local health departments, which in turn report to the state.
The Lutheran Home is the largest senior living community in Arlington Heights. According to their official website, the Lutheran Home is a non-profit senior living community, which includes short-term rehabilitation, assisted living and skilled nursing. The Lutheran Home, which opened in Arlington Heights in 1892, is the first of five facilities operated by Lutheran Life Communities.
Lutheran Life Communities is providing COVID-19 updates on all five communities. Four other facilities include Luther Oaks (lutheroaks.org/covid19) in Bloomington, Illinois; Wittenberg Village in Crown Point, Indiana (wittenbergvillage.org); The Arlington of Naples, Florida (arlingtonnaples.org/covid19); and Pleasant View in Ottawa, Illinois (pvottawa.org/covid19).
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