State Finally Acknowledges La Grange Park Outbreak

LA GRANGE PARK, IL — Forty-one days after a La Grange Park nursing home's first coronavirus death, the state finally confirmed an outbreak at the facility. It is unclear why the state took so long to place the nursing home on its list of outbreaks at long-term care facilities. The facility appeared on the state's updated list Friday.

After repeated Patch stories about the issue, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Public Health said nearly two weeks ago that La Grange Park's Plymouth Place should be on the list. Yet a few days later, the nursing home was still missing from the weekly update. At first, the department declined to answer specific questions about Plymouth Place, preferring only to speak in generalities.

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According to the state, Plymouth Place has had 54 cases of the coronavirus among its residents and staff and eight related deaths. Records from the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office also show that eight people have died from the coronavirus at the nursing home. The first seven deaths happened from April 25 to May 11. The latest death was of a 102-year-old woman on May 31.

Statewide, the department lists 18,840 coronavirus cases at nursing homes, including 3,144 deaths. For nearly two months, the state has provided a list of nursing homes with outbreaks with as few as two cases.

In mid-May, Plymouth Place executives confirmed to Patch that it had 17 coronavirus cases among residents and 27 among staff. All the cases had been on the nursing home and assisted living side of its complex, not in the half designated for independent living, the executives said. They also said they quickly reported all coronavirus cases and deaths to government authorities.

Last week, Patch submitted a public records request to the Department of Public Health for documents that may indicate why Plymouth Place was missing from the list for so long.

Another local nursing home, The Grove of La Grange Park, is listed as having four coronavirus cases and one death. Lexington of La Grange has reported seven cases and two deaths.