Ocean County Nursing Home Coronavirus Cases, Deaths Released

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Twenty nursing care facilities in Ocean County have had at least one patient who died of complications from the new coronavirus, and 15 facilities have had more than 10 positive cases of the virus.

Those are some of the numbers revealed Monday when the state Department of Health released information on all nursing facilities in New Jersey who have reported at least one case of the coronavirus.

The listing comes after weeks of requests for the information and repeated warnings from the state to the owners and managers of long-term care facilities about their need to report that information to patients, employees and patients' families, Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said Monday.

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Long-term care facilities have been a point of concern in Ocean County since the earliest stages of the outbreak, as has been the potential spillover to the senior community at large. More than 173,000 of the county's residents — nearly a third of the 607,000 — are seniors.

As of Monday afternoon, there have been 36 long-term and assisted living care facilities in Ocean County that have reported at least one case of coronavirus to the state. There are 665 patients at long-term care facilities who have tested positive for the virus, and 54, or 8 percent, of those patients have died, according to state figures. You can see the list at the bottom of the article

Overall, there have been 4,868 people in Ocean County who tested positive; 222 of those, or 4 percent, have died, according to the state. Nursing home cases account for 13.7 percent of the people who have tested positive in Ocean County, and and 24.3 percent of the deaths.

There were 88,806 people who have tested positive for the coronavirus across New Jersey as of Monday, and 4,377 of them have died, according to the state health department. Read more: NJ Coronavirus Updates: Here's What You Need To Know

Dan Regenye, public health coordinator for the Ocean County Health Department, said the county started putting plans in place to assist nursing facilities in the county before the first case was confirmed.

There are 54 facilities overall in Ocean, with 35 of them licensed as nursing homes and 19 licensed as assisted living. Some share a physical address but are licensed separately, Regenye said.

"This is one area we knew would be a problem and we dedicated resources from the start," Regenye said. "They're just such a fragile high-risk population."

There are four nurses and an epidemiologist assigned to work directly with nursing facilities where a patient has been diagnosed. They are the liaison with each facility, making sure they have all the proper information from how to ensure patients are properly isolated to try to prevent the spread to others to discussing how facilities are handling what are usually joint meals.

"They (the liaisons) reinforce the CDC guidelines" for handling patients in these settings, Regenye said.

The county health department has been working to put facilities in contact with state and local authorities as well, he said, and coordinating efforts with the Ocean County Senior Services department.

Ocean County Sheriff Michael Mastronardy said local and county Offices of Emergency Management have been working with the facilities as well, making sure they are registered with the state so they are eligible to get distributions of personal protective equipment.

"They have to put in a request," and the county then distributes the materials it receives, Mastronardy said. They have been working with the emergency management offices in each town to make sure everything is being taken care of, he said.

"It's a very difficult situation with a highly vulnerable population," Regenye said, adding it's sad how many patients and health care workers have become ill.

It's also why the health department continues to stress the social distancing measures that have come under fire from frustrated residents in recent days.

"I'm most concerned about the grandparents," Regenye said. "Those are the people we need to step up and protect."

Here are the facilities in Ocean County that have patients positive for the coronavirus, along with 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 facilites and the state.

On Friday, one of the facilities listed by the state contacted Patch to contest being included on the list.

"Encompass Health Toms River and Encompass Health Tinton Falls are licensed hospitals that provide physical medicine and rehabilitation services," said Hillary Carnel, associate director of media relations for the facilities. "Our hospitals provide a different level of care than a nursing home. We serve patients and don’t have residents in our care."

Carnel said that on On April 6, Encompass Health Toms River opened a COVID-19 program with a dedicated, separate wing of 30 beds, and has admitted 34 COVID-19 patients from area hospitals and discharged 10 of those patients home, as of April 21.

"This unit was opened in response to the needs of the community and area hospitals and it has been received positively by the acute medical centers and patients that need our higher level of care," she said. "To clarify, there have been zero confirmed COVID-19 positive expirations (deaths) at Encompass Health Toms River."

"We are doing our part to support our community and local healthcare system and stand by our commitment to provide the high-quality care for which we are known, whether that be through our standard rehabilitation services or by temporarily serving patients recovering from COVID-19 during this challenging time."

• Crystal Lake Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center, Berkeley Twp: 73 (9)
• Leisure Chateau Care and Rehab Center, Lakewood: 51 (7)
• Meridian Nursing and Rehab, Brick: 48 (6)
• Complete Care at Shorrock Gardens, Brick: 36 (6)
• Health South Rehab (Encompass Health and Rehab), Toms River: 54 (3)
• Leisure Park Health Center, Lakewood: 25 (3)
• Crestwood Manor, Manchester: 6 (3)
• Hampton Ridge Healthcare and Rehab, Toms River: 61 (2)
• Southern Ocean Center, Stafford: 33 (2)
• Willow Springs Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center, Brick: 33 (2)
• Alcoeur Gardens at Brick: 12 (2)
• Aristacare at Manchester: 45 (1)
• Complete Care at Green Acres, Toms River: 33 (1)
• Barnegat Rehabilitation & Nursing Center, Barnegat: 15 (1)
• Complete Care at Laurelton, Brick: 12 (1)
• Complete Care at Holiday City, Toms River: 10 (1)
• Concord Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center, Lakewood: 7 (1)
• Atlantic Coast Rehabilitation & Healthcare, Lakewood: 6 (1)
• Complete Care at Bey Lea Toms River: 4 (1)
• Atria Senior Living — Manahawkin: 1 (1)
• Harrogate, Lakewood: 16 (0)
• Rose Garden Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Toms River: 15 (0)
• Alcoeur Gardens at Toms River: 13 (0)
• Crest Pointe Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center, Point Pleasant: 9 (0)
• Care One at Jackson: 7 (0)
• AristaCare at Whiting, Manchester: 5 (0)
• Arbors Care Center, Manchester: 5 (0)
• Fountain View Care Center, Lakewood: 4 (0)
• Tallwoods Care Center, Bayville: 4 (0)
• Manahawkin Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Manahawkin: 4 (0)
• Brandywine Living at the Gables, Brick: 4 (0)
• Artis at Brick: 3 (0)
• Association for Multiple Impaired Blind, Pine Beach: 3 (0)
• The Orchards at Bartley, Jackson: 3 (0)
• The Chelsea at Brick: 3 (0)
• Shore Meadows Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, Toms River: 2 (0)

Note: This article has been updated to include comment from Encompass Health and Rehab.

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