Nursing Home Deaths: Bolingbrook's Meadowbrook Has Highest Rate

BOLINGBROOK, IL — Meadowbrook Manor, a nursing home in Bolingbrook, has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and coronavirus-related deaths among any other long-term care facility in Will County, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

As of Friday, the facility had 173 reported cases and 26 deaths, surpassing Symphony of Joliet, which a week earlier had the most cases and deaths. According to IDPH, the Joliet facility reported a total of 127 outbreaks and 24 deaths on Friday.

Meadow brook Manor had 93 confirmed cases two weeks ago, which was a substantial increase over the previous week's total of 51 cases, as per the IDPH website.

On Friday, IDPH reported 111 deaths among residents and staff in 23 long-term care facilities in all of Will County. The 50 tallied by IDPH in Meadowbrook Manor and Symphony of Joliet make up 45 percent of the total.

Illinois officials on Tuesday announced 4,014 new cases of the coronavirus — the largest single-day increase to date — and 144 additional deaths, bringing the statewide total to 83,021 confirmed infections and 3,601 known deaths.

In an official statement, the public information office at Meadowbrook told Patch:

"Meadowbrook Bolingbrook, like every other congregate nursing facility in Illinois and around the world, serves as a caretaker for society’s elderly and vulnerable residents. While many of our residents might be frail, our professional caregivers are anything but. We are proud of the heroic work our professionals perform each and every day on behalf of Meadowbrook, which at times, has served as a home for 300 residents.

When the state recently began offering testing about two weeks ago for skilled nursing facilities, we were among the first nursing homes to welcome broad testing for our residents and staff. Testing is essential to caring for our vulnerable residents and our dedicated staff. Positive test results were expected due to the congregate setting, the necessary movement of our staff and the growing understanding that many carriers are asymptomatic. It is also important to emphasize that an overwhelming majority of our residents and staff remain safe and stable.

As testing ramps up, no facility will be immune to the impact of COVID-19, or the loss of life that comes from it. But at Meadowbrook, we take each loss to heart, regardless of whether it is our residents who passed here or in most cases, after leaving here to only pass away at a nearby hospital."