County Sets Up Transitional Care For Senior Coronavirus Patients

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL — Hillsborough County has entered into an agreement with The Inn at University Village to serve as a transitional unit for senior care residents who have been hospitalized with the coronavirus.

The Inn at University Village, 12250 N. 22nd St., Tampa, is setting aside 60 beds for senior care facility residents who were hospitalized with the coronavirus, but no longer require hospitalization.

The assisted living facility will serve as a transitional unit after senior care residents are released from the hospital and await final clearance to return to their senior care homes. They will temporarily live in a separate wing designated for coronavirus patients beginning this week.

The initiative is one of several being undertaken by a senior care facility rapid response task force formed last week by Hillsborough County, the city of Tampa, the Florida Department of Health-Hillsborough County, the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration and four hospital systems — Tampa General Hospital, BayCare, AdventHealth and HCA Healthcare - West Florida Division.

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The agencies have been carrying out respective plans to help prevent and respond to the coronavirus in senior care facilities. The task force is combining and coordinating these efforts to prevent large-scale outbreaks and avoid overwhelming hospitals that are trying to resume elective surgeries and other previously curtailed services, including admissions of acute coronavirus patients from senior community homes.

The majority of coronavirus fatalities in Hillsborough County are among residents 65 years old and older, according to Dr. Doug Holt, director of the Hillsborough County Florida Department of Health,

Residents who live in a senior care facility are at high risk for severe illness related to the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

So far, two senior care facilities in Hillsborough County have experienced large-scale outbreaks.

The Bristol at Tampa Rehabilitation and Nursing Center has had 15 residents die from the coronavirus and six residents have died at the Community Convalescent Center.

At Monday's EPG meeting, Holt said the county has tested now 2,300 residents at long-term care facilities in Hillsborough County.

Thirty long-term care facilities have had at least one case of the coronavirus. In all, there have been 302 cases and 33 deaths.

"It is very important to note that the overall percentage of deaths is 10 percent, which is still too high, but other parts of the country have seen 30 percent," he said.

In addition to making the coronavirus beds available for emergency placement, task force efforts include:

• The Hillsborough County Office of Emergency Management and DOH have implemented an aggressive plan to test staff and residents at skilled nursing homes and assisted living facilities across Hillsborough County.
• Hillsborough County Fire Rescue personnel are on their second round of personally visiting more than 290 senior care facilities to provide information on how to prevent and respond to an outbreak.
• DOH teams are working closely with facilities to ensure that staff are carrying out proper infection control practices and to identify early any sign of a potential outbreak.
• First responders from Hillsborough County and the city of Tampa are working with hospital systems to coordinate transportation of patients so as not to overwhelm any particular facility.

Related stories:

• Rapid Response Task Force Formed To Protect Nursing Homes
• 15 Residents Evacuated From Nursing Homes After Testing Positive
• These Tampa Bay Nursing Homes Have Cases Of Coronavirus
• 3 Dead, 36 Hospitalized For Coronavirus At Seminole Nursing Home