1 Death, 5 Confirmed Cases Of Coronavirus At Lemont Center: IDPH

LEMONT, IL — Lemont Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, otherwise known as Lemont Center, has five confirmed cases of coronavirus and one related death, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported Sunday.

IDPH is now sharing the case numbers of residents and staff of long-term care facilities. The data is reported starting from the beginning of the coronavirus response on Jan. 24. Numbers are current as of April 19.

Extended Care Clinical Consulting consults to Lemont Center and CEO Ron Nunziato said the center's first priority has and will be to its residents' health, safety and well-being.

Nunziato told Patch any positive coronavirus residents are being isolated in a specific unit of the facility.

"As the number of COVID-19 cases has increased in Illinois, and continues to increase, it is our belief that each and every nursing [facility] in the state will be affected by COVID-19," Nunziato said. "We believe that because of our proactive approach to this crisis we will be able to identify affected residents quickly and we will be able [to] the provide care needed to answer this crisis call."

Nunziato added the facility started increased infection prevention strategies four weeks ago, including screening staff and residents, enhanced cleaning and disinfection, and visitor restrictions.

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Lemont Center, 12450 Walker Road, has 143 certified beds, according to Medicare's website. Medicare rates the facility "much above average" overall. More specifically, it is rated as "above average" for health inspections, "below average" for staffing and "much above average" for quality measures.

In Cook County, IDPH is reporting there are 808 cases of coronavirus in long-term care facilities and 146 related deaths.

Read more:

• Illinois Coronavirus: We 'Prevented Worst-Case Scenarios' So Far
• Lemont Coronavirus Updates & News