A west suburban long term care facility has seen its positive coronavirus cases spike from one to 113 among residents and staff members in recent weeks, according to Illinois Department of Public Health data.
Additionally, Bria of Geneva said twenty of its residents have died due to coronavirus-related issues.
Lucille James, 80, died on Friday, according to her family.
“She loved the grandkids. Loved to quilt,” said her son-in-law, Ed Borowiak of St. Charles.
Borowiak said the family talked to Lucille via FaceTime the day before she passed away. But he said the family did not know she had died from Coronavirus until the funeral home told them.
“This disease is bad. You die alone in this disease. And this is hard for us because we couldn’t be there with Lucy in her final moments,” Borowiak said.
The medical director of Bria of Geneva, Dr. Phil Branshaw, said it is not known how the virus entered the nursing home. The facility also said it did not have access to testing until April 24th.
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“Being able to obtain the test kits is a very difficult process for the facilities, in general, which is, frankly, why you saw such a very rapid spread,” Branshaw said.
Branshaw said the facility was able to partition the residents who did not have the virus to separate rooms and that staff have been using personal protective equipment throughout the outbreak.
A spokesperson for Bria of Geneva said while they have done their best to communicate with families under challenging circumstances, the priority has been on patient care for residents who were medically fragile before COVID-19.
NBC 5 spoke to a current resident of Bria of Geneva who said she had tested positive for coronavirus. She said she had lost a lot of friends, but the nursing home staff has been “fantastic”.
