16 Burr Ridge Facility Workers Sent Home

BURR RIDGE, IL — A Burr Ridge assisted living facility has sent home 16 staff members in recent weeks who have either confirmed or presumed cases of the coronavirus, its parent company said this week. Meanwhile, the facility reported that 11 residents have died of the coronavirus as of Wednesday. Three days earlier, the state counted nine.

Since the pandemic began last month, eight staff have tested positive at Harvester Place in Burr Ridge, according to a statement from Anthem Memory Care, its parent company. They are reported as recuperating at home.

Another eight were sent home because they were presumed to have the virus, which the state requires of anyone who has a symptom of any kind, the company said. They have fully recovered at home and have been cleared to return to work, the statement said.

Most prominently, Carole Considine, Harvester Place's executive director, was among the 16 sent home. She had a confirmed case. According to Anthem, Considine has fully recovered and returned to work Thursday after receiving clearance from her doctor.

As of Wednesday, Harvester Place had a total of 24 residents who have tested positive, Laura Kislowski, vice president of sales and marketing, said in the company's statement. Two have fully recovered, and 10 are recuperating at Harvester Place, where they are receiving care under the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, she said. Another is at health care facility.

"Very sadly, 11 have passed away. They are greatly missed and we express our sincere condolences to their families and friends," Kislowski said.

Anthem, she said, has no dispute with the state's numbers. As of Sunday, the state counted 37 confirmed or presumed cases of the coronavirus and nine deaths.

"Regarding the issue of possible discrepancies in data, we report our numbers to both the county and state health departments," she said. "Any potential difference between our data on a given day and what they provide likely would be caused by timing issues."

Harvester Place, Kislowski said, is keeping families informed on coronavirus developments. They get daily update emails Monday through Friday and one of the employees is a designated a family liaison who is available to answer calls and questions, she said.

An outside specialized cleaning firm has completed a deep disinfection and cleaning of the facility, Kislowski said. That is in addition to the around-the-clock disinfection and cleaning processes that Harvester Place has been conducting since Feb. 26 as part of "exacting coronavirus protocols."

Anthem Memory Care has become more open with the public about the coronavirus situation at Harvester Place. In mid-April, the company declined to provide information to the wider public, saying it gave updates to families. Not long after, the state started publishing numbers of coronavirus cases at long-term care facilities.

Read more:

Illinois Coronavirus Update April 30: 52,918 Cases; 2,355 Deaths

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