11 Mahwah Residents Have Died In Long-Term Care Facilities

MAHWAH, NJ — Eleven residents of Mahwah's two long-term care facilities have died from the coronavirus, according to the latest state data.

At Fox Trail Memory Care, there are 11 confirmed residents with the coronavirus, and four residents have died. Four staff members also have confirmed cases, but no Fox Trail staffer has died.

Seven residents of Brandywine Living have died from the coronavirus, and 22 have confirmed COVID-19 cases. No staff members have died from the coronavirus at the facility, but 12 have confirmed cases.

Death totals of both staff and residents have remained the same since the last Patch report on the facilities, but cases have gone up.

The coronavirus situation at New Jersey nursing homes has been under the microscope recently.
In a May news conference, Gov. Phil Murphy acknowledged that the state "can do better" regarding the outbreak at these facilities.

Today, Gov. Phil Murphy announced sweeping change would come to the facilities, both in the short and long term.

Mannat Consulting has conducted a review of the state's long-term care facilities, and given guidance for new residents and visitors after the current COVID-19 outbreak which addresses resiliency, mitigation and protection.

Read more: NJ's Long Term Care Issues Exacerbated By COVID-19 To Be Fixed

In total, 6,020 residents and 110 staff have died from nursing homes and other long-term care facilities in New Jersey.

Sixty-three Bergen County long-term care facilities have reported outbreaks. In those facilities, 906 residents have died and 3,141 residents have tested positive for the coronavirus. An additional 1,613 staff cases have been reported, and 10 staff members have died.

Calls from experts to expand testing in the facilities have been heard, but the price tag is steep.
There are 363 facilities listed as nursing homes in the state, with residents totaling 43,315 and staff at 47,410. To test every resident and staff member would mean 90,725 total tests at an estimated cost of $13,608,750, according to a report from Patch.

That number doesn't include assisted living or other long-term care facilities.

In addition to the mounting case numbers, there is mounting pressure on long-term care facilities to provide greater transparency to their processes. Ninety-two of New Jersey's long-term care facilities failed to comply with a mandate to provide new coronavirus testing plans to the New Jersey Department of Health.

The long-term care facilities aren't the only groups facing criticism over the handling of nursing home data.

Senator Joseph Pennacchio is calling for a Senate Collect Committee to investigate the handling of the pandemic by Gov. Murphy's office after reports that the state altered the accounting of virus deaths in senior facilities.