Latest Scotch Plains, Fanwood Nursing Home Coronavirus Deaths

SCOTCH PLAINS/FANWOOD, NJ — As New Jersey begins to crack down on nursing homes and long-term care facilities, deaths related to the new coronavirus continue to rise in Scotch Plains and Fanwood.

The state has a dashboard set up that tracks the number of cases statewide, including how many cases and fatalities involve long-term care facilities. There are two facilities in Scotch Plains and Fanwood, here are the latest numbers.

Ashbrook Care and Rehabilitation Center in Scotch Plains has 65 cases and 7 deaths while The Chelsea at Fanwood in Fanwood has 17 cases and 8 deaths.

The latest in Union County show 1,662 cases are spread among the 29 impacted facilities. There have been 407 deaths at these facilities as reported by the New Jersey Department of Health on Wednesday.

The largest outbreak in Union County is at Cranford Rehab and Nursing Center in Cranford. The report shows 133 cases. Out of those there were 39 deaths.

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Here are the facilities in Union County that have patients positive for the coronavirus, followed by the deaths (in parentheses) that have happened at those facilities. The list of facilities was provided by the state Department of Health; there may be discrepancies due to a delay in communications between the facilities and the state:

• Union County is at Cranford Rehab and Nursing Center, Cranford: 133 (39)
• Clark Nursing and Rehab, Clark: 84 (21)
• Elizabeth Nursing and Rehab, Elizabeth: 57 (20)
• Atria Senior Living at Cranford, Cranford: 63 (19)
• AristaCare at Delaire, Linden: 107 (18)
• Elmora Hills Healthcare Center, Elizabeth 78 (17)
• Plaza Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, Elizabeth: 49 (17)
• The Woodlands, Plainfield: 51 (16)
• Alaris Health at Riverton, Rahway: 46 (15)
• AristaCare at Norwood Terrace, Plainfield: 56 (15)
• Autumn Lake Healthcare at Berkeley Heights, Berkeley Heights: 57 (14)
• Genesis at Westfield Center, Westfield: 70 (13)
• Cranford Park Rehab and Healthcare Center, Cranford: 74 (12)
• Cornell Care & Rehabilitation Center, Union: 49 (12)
• JFK Hartwyck at Cedar Brook, Plainfield: 60 (11)
• Brother Bonaventure Care Center, Elizabeth: 58 (11)
• ManorCare Mountainside, Mountainside: 64 (10)
• Amber Court Assisted Living, Elizabeth: 43 (9)
• South Mountain Rehab and LTC , Union: 78 (9)
• Lantern Hill, New Providence: 33 (9)
• Sunrise of Westfield, Westfield: 9 (9)
• The Chelsea at Fanwood, Fanwood: 17 (8)
• Ashbrook Care and Rehabilitation Center, Scotch Plains: 65 (7)
• Spring Meadows Summit, Summit: 11 (7)
• Spring Grove Rehabilitation and Health Care Center, New Providence: 33(6)
• Brighton Gardens at Mountainside, Mountainside: 24 (5)
• Runnells Center for Rehabilitation and Healthcare, Berkeley Heights: 26 (4)
• Children's Specialized Hospital , Mountainside: 16 (0)
• Arbor Terrace Mountainside, Mountainside: 6 (0)

Statewide, 24,874 cases of the coronavirus have been identified at 513 long-term care facilities. There have been 4,556 deaths at these facilities.

A big part of the nursing home and long-term care problem is that, health officials have acknowledged, the numbers are probably higher – maybe even way higher – than reported.

Murphy said his administration has been leading reviews of long-term care facilities and enforcing measures to protect residents and staff. Read More: NJ Clamps Down On Nursing Homes As Coronavirus Deaths Spiral Up

Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said her department has already curtailed visitation, enforced the notification of outbreaks and required people to wear masks. Now they've also:

• Worked with the National Guard to provide "some efforts" in assisting the facilities, although they weren't specified.
• Conducted an inspection of 60 facilities in April to check for the availability of personal protective equipment, the quality of infection control and staffing levels, among other criteria.
• Directed at least four sites to develop "directed plans of correction" after the inspections, and several facilities have to bring in consultants to assist. She didn't identify the facilities.

Chelsea Senior Living Chief Executive Officer Herb Heflich recently wrote a letter in response to Murphy's smack down on nursing homes and long-term care facilities.

"The state agencies have been woefully behind on all of it and are now playing catch-up by smacking down on operators as though we are the cause of the disease instead of victims. Chelsea has a 30 year history of caring for senior citizens, first as a nursing home provider and then starting in the late 80's as a pioneer of assisted living," said Heflich. "We know how to provide safe and healthy environments for senior citizens. It's tragic that the Coronavirus has become a feared fact of life and that our government, even today, seems unable to respond effectively to the threat. We urge our state departments of health to provide actual solutions to obstacles to care instead of handing out blocks of blame and issuing pointless directives to overwhelmed care staffs."

Read more: NJ Coronavirus Updates: Here's What You Need To Know

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