BRENHAM NURSING AND REHAB EMPLOYEES SPEAK OUT ON SITUATION AT FACILITY

  

A pair of staff members at the Brenham Nursing and Rehabilitation Center are claiming mismanagement led to the current outbreak of COVID-19 cases at the facility.

The two workers, who both requested they remain anonymous, say not enough was done by management to take precautions when positive cases first began to show at the facility, before eventual intervention from state authorities this past weekend.  They also say staff members are being demanded to work 12-hour shifts and “rearrange” their lives with little added pay.

The two staff members say management is showing more concern about the situation now, but claim during the time of the first cases earlier this month that they were not given the proper personal protective equipment (PPE) needed.  They also allege employees were not told which residents had tested positive for COVID-19, which they say led to many staff members unknowingly working with positive patients.  In addition, the two say members of management were informed of any change in a patient’s condition, but claim management did nothing to address the situation.

According to a release Friday from the Washington County Joint Information Center (JIC), there were 67 positive cases of COVID-19 at the Brenham Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.  The two staff members claim that number is now over 70, and does not include management or other staff members.

Residents of the facility, according to the two workers, have been placed around the different wings of the facility, with those testing positive being put in the north wing, and those testing negative moved to the south wing.  The two allege, however, that this was done without deep cleaning the rooms of the patients that tested positive.

The two also claim that the staff taking care of residents are not being properly compensated for the work they are doing, saying workers are getting paid roughly $2 extra an hour, or a little over $20 more per 12-hour work day.

Both workers maintain they love their jobs and doing what they can to protect residents, but feel they are not being shown the appreciation and given the compensation they deserve by management.

Friday, State Senator Lois Kolkhorst announced the state, at her request, launched a Mobile Integrated Healthcare Unit to the facility, where it would triage, test all patients and staff, assist in facility management, and make recommendations for next steps for the facility and patient care.  She has also asked the Department of State Health Services to deploy a contact trace team to Brenham to ensure that community spread is not occurring.

The facility’s parent company, Regency Integrated Health Services, also responded Friday with a statement, in which it said the facility’s supplies of PPE have been fortified, staff members undergo regular training, and staff and residents have been tested in conjunction with the Department of Health.  It said it did not “anticipate a disruption” in the care it provides as the state expedites on-site testing.

KWHI reached out to Regency Integrated Health Services this (Monday) morning, and is awaiting a response to our request for information on what direction has been given by the state, what changes have been or will be made at the facility, and what is being done now to protect residents and staff.