ARKANSAS (KNWA/KFTA) — There have been 1,235 total COVID-19 related nursing home deaths, according to the Arkansas Department of Health’s (ADH) December 9, 2020 report.

This is an increase of 157 deaths from the previous ADH report — November, 23.

NEW NURSING HOME DEATHS 12/9

  • Amberwood Health & Rehab, Saline County: 2 deaths (3 total)
  • Arbor Oaks Healthcare & Rehab., Hot Spring County: 2 deaths (6 total)
  • Atkins Nursing & Rehab. Center, Pope County: 2 deaths (4 total)
  • Barrow Creek Health & Rehab., Pulaski County: 11 deaths
  • Brookfield Senior Living and Memory Care, Sebastian County: 2 deaths
  • Cave City Nursing home, Sharp County: 9 deaths
  • Chambers Nursing Home Center, Lonoke County: 3 deaths (8 total)
  • Conway Healthcare & Rehab., Faulkner County: 3 deaths
  • Crawford Healthcare and Rehab. Center, Crawford County: 1 death
  • Dardanelle Nursing & Rehab. Center, Yell County: 3 deaths
  • Fayetteville Health & Rehab., Washington County: 17 deaths (26 total)
  • Green Acres Nursing Home, Greene County: 2 deaths (6 total)
  • Highland Court, A Rehab. & Resident Care Facility, Searcy County: 5 deaths (6 total)
  • Hillcrest Home, Boone County: 2 deaths (3 total)
  • Jamestown Nursing & Rehab., Benton County: 4 deaths (14 total)
  • Nursing & Rehab. Center at Good Shepherd, Pulaski County: 10 deaths (13 total)
  • Oakdale Nursing Facility, White County: 1 death
  • Primrose Retirement Community of Rogers, Benton County: 1 death (3 total)
  • Randolph County Nursing Home, Randolph County: 7 deaths (27 total)
  • Rich Mountain Nursing & Rehab. Center, Polk County: 10 deaths (28 total)
  • Rogers Health & Rehab. Center, Benton County: 5 deaths (7 total)
  • Somerset Senior Living at Mounty Vista/Mount Vista R&H Center, Boone County: 3 deaths (13 total)
  • St. Bernards Village-ALF, Craighead County: 2 deaths
  • St. Francis Assisted Living, St. Francis County: 1 death
  • The Crossing at Riverside Health & Rehab., White County: 2 deaths (16 total)
  • The Greenhouse Cottages of Wentworth Place, Columbia County: 4 deaths (6 total)
  • The Maples at Har-Ber Meadows, Benton County: 15 deaths (17 total)
  • The Springs of Batesville, Independence County: 3 deaths (32 total)
  • The Springs of Jonesboro, Craighead County: 6 deaths (17 total)
  • The Village at Valley Ranch, Pulaski County 1 death (7 total)
  • The Waters of Newport, Jackson County: 6 deaths (8 total)
  • The Waters of Rogers, Benton County: 4 deaths (12 total)
  • Village Springs Health & Rehab., Garland County: 7 deaths (8 total)
  • Wood-Lawn Heights, Independence County: 1 death
  • This list totals 157 deaths and
  • Note: The number of cases and deaths reported are delayed on the ADH website reports.

Nationally, the U.S. population is more than 321,418,000 million, according to the 2019 U.S. Census Bureau Population Division data.

Arkansas ranks 33rd of 50 states, plus D.C., with a population of more than 3 million. Below are four states with a population near that of the Natural State. Iowa is 31st, Nevada 32nd, Mississippi 34th, and Kansas 35th, it also includes a “percent of the total population.”

California is 1st with a population of 39,512,223 (11.91%) and Wyoming has the least population at 578,759 (0.17%).

California has approximately 1,192 nursing homes and 4,727 nursing home deaths. Wyoming has 36 nursing homes and 115 deaths.

  • Iowa 3,155,070, .95%, 433 nursing homes. (1,335 deaths)
  • Nevada 3,080,156, .93%, 66 nursing homes. (216 deaths)
  • Arkansas 3,017,825, .91%, 224 nursing homes. (1,235 deaths)
  • Mississippi, 2,976,149, .90%, 204 nursing homes. (1,202 deaths)
  • Kansas, 2,913,314, .88%, 331 nursing homes. (735 deaths)

Nursing home deaths information is from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The number of nursing homes is from ProPublica.

Looking only at the numbers, the five states may have a similar population size but the number of nursing homes ranges from 66 (low) to 433 (high). Iowa has the most homes and most deaths. Kansas has about 100 fewer homes than Iowa and 600 fewer deaths —the population difference is about 242,000.

Since the start of the pandemic, 100,033 residents and staff at long-term care facilities have died from COVID-19 as of November 24, 2020, per state reporting in 49 states plus D.C., according to Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF). The agency believes this is an undercount as fives states (Hawaii, Maine, Missouri, Nebraska, and West Virginia) did not report deaths for more than a week, and Alaska has never provided any death data in nursing home facilities. 

For additional data: The AARP Public Policy Institute, in collaboration with the Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University in Ohio, created the AARP Nursing Home COVID-19 Dashboard. Here you may find monthly COVID-19 data in five impact categories: nursing home cases, nursing home deaths, staff cases, staff shortages and PPE availability.