SAN ANTONIO – A recent outbreak at a South Side nursing home has raised questions after 66 residents tested positive for COVID-19.
Metro Health officials said they were first alerted after a staff member at Windsor Mission Oaks Nursing and Rehabilitation Center tested positive.
Monica Gonzales said her family is heartbroken as her father, 67-year-old Graviel Gonzales, remains in the ICU.
“He’s actually fighting this battle by himself. We can’t be by his side to help him,” she said.
Gonzales is a resident at the nursing facility but he was admitted to Baptist Medical Center on July 1. His daughter said that’s when they learned he tested positive for COVID-19.
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Monica said her father has a number of health conditions and is now on a ventilator.
“I really didn’t think he was going to make it,” said Monica.
However, she had no idea he had been transported until the hospital called that day. Monica said the nursing home has yet to notify her of her father’s condition.
“I have yet to receive a call from Mission Oaks Nursing Home to let me know where my dad is at.”
A spokesperson for Regency Health Services, the company that oversees Windsor Mission Oaks, said residents and staff were first tested in May.
When they were tested again last week, that’s when residents began to show up positive. Gonzales’ daughter claims the home never called to inform her of the recent outbreak.
“I thought the nursing home was taking better precautions,” she said.
Regency Health Services released a statement to KSAT:
“Due to HIPAA and privacy laws, we cannot comment on specific patient information.”
According to online records from Medicare, the most recent health inspection at the facility was back May of 2019. The records show a total of seven health violations, which included not isolating a resident from others after an infection.
The inspection report states a staff member used a pair of scissors to remove a resident’s old bandage and used the same soiled scissors to cut a clean bandage. The report went on to state this action put the resident at risk for infection.
The administrator confirmed the facility did not have any policy on sanitizing equipment.
Rules from the Center of Medicare and Medicaid services require that facilities notify residents and their families by 5 p.m. the next calendar day after a single confirmed case of COVID-19.
Metro Health officials said they have not received notice of any deaths or hospitalizations linked to Windsor Mission Oaks.
Gonzales’ daughter said her father’s life remains her top concern.
“I’m just thinking the worst right now, preparing for a funeral that I really don’t want.”
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