ARKANSAS (KNWA/KFTA) — An Arkansas woman is so worried about her grandmother, who lives in a nursing home, that she reached out to Governor Asa Hutchinson and U.S. President Donald Trump to get something done about the visitation restrictions due to COVID-19.

Finally a visit became reality

Thursday, September 24, was the second time in six months Dana Johnson could visit her grandmother Alda Hastings. For the past four years, Hastings has lived at The Crossing at Riverside Health & Rehabilitation in Searcy, Arkansas.

“There was a visit in July but due to the heat, it lasted 20 minutes,” said Johnson.

“Today, it was a 30 minute, outside, masked, 6-feet apart visit,” said Johnson, “but that was better than nothing … and I would love to give her a hug.”

In Arkansas, outdoor visits at nursing homes are preferred, but facilities must meet certain requirements — such are employees being free of the virus.

The visits were canceled by August due to an employee testing positive. That put visits on hold for at least 28 days.

The facility attempted a September 15 re-opening for visits, but that was postponed because another employee was infected with the virus.

“We had been informed about two employees who were positive,” said Johnson.

One death was reported in September at The Crossing at Riverside H&R by ADH, but Johnson said she was not told that by the nursing home.

LOST AND NOT FOUND

Hastings entered the nursing home with dentures, and today they are missing. More frustrating is that the nursing home will not pay to replace them, according to Johnson.

“The Crossing told me they are NOT paying for her teeth because the nurse told them she had them in her mouth when she paid a visit to the emergency room. The ambulance driver said she [Alda] had them but the ER people didn’t write down that she had them, instead they noted pink gums.”

Dana Johnson

NURSING HOME COVID-19 DATA

The ADH reports an additional 26 nursing home deaths related to COVID-19, as of September 21. The state’s cumulative total is 371.

NURSING HOME DEATHS 9/21:

• Crestpark of Helena, Phillips. 1 death (5 total)
• Dermott City Nursing Home, Chicot. 3 deaths (7 total)
• Fayetteville H&R, Washington. 5 deaths (9 total)
• Heritage Square Healthcare Center, Mississippi. 3 deaths (4 total)
• Hudson Memorial Nursing Home, Union. 1 death
• Lake Village Rehab & Care Center, Chicot. 1 death (3 total)
• Ouachita Nursing & Rehab, Pulaski. 1 death
• Robinson Nursing & Rehab, Pulaski. 1 death (5 total)
• Siloam Healthcare, Siloam Springs Nursing & Rehab, Benton. 1 death (2 total)
• The Crossing at Riverside H&R, White, 1 death
• The Green House Cottages of Southern Hils, Cleveland. 1 death (2 total)
• The Green House Cottages of Belle Meade, Greene. 1 death
• Timberlane Health & Rehab-El Dorado, Union. 6 deaths (7 total)

On September 11, ADH reported one death at The Springs of Batesville in Independence County, however, the September 21st ADH report shows no death.

Nursing home deaths with double-digits from the September 11 ADH report are The Lakes at Maumelle (Pulaski) 13 deaths, and The Springs on Broadway (Crittenden) with 15.

The ADH reports 15 COVID-19 deaths in Newton County and all the deaths are from the Newton County Nursing Home in Jasper. There are three additional nursing homes in the county that have not reported any deaths connected to COVID-19.

In northeast Arkansas, Randolph County, 18 residents have died from COVID-19 and 15 are from the Randolph County Nursing Home in Pocahontas. In the same area, but in Lawrence County, there have been 12 deaths from the virus, and eight have been from Walnut Ridge Nursing & Rehab., according to ADH.

In eastern Arkansas, Crittenden County’s 23, of its 38, COVD-19 related deaths are from nursing homes. Fifteen are from The Springs on Broadway – W Memphis, six from Willowbend Healthcare & Rehab., and two from West Memphis Health & Rehab.

At least 53 nursing home deaths have happened in Pulaski County. Thirty-two of the deaths were from two nursing homes: Woodland Hills Healthcare & Rehab., 19, and Lakes at Maumelle Health and Rehab., 13.

More than half of the 27 COVID-19 related deaths in Union County have been in nursing homes, according to ADH. Courtyard Rehab & Health Center and Timberlane H&R had seven each, and Hudson Memorial Nursing Home had one.

Little River County had a cluster of nursing home deaths in mid-September, according to ADH Secretary Dr. Jose Romero. The county has reported a total of 20 deaths related to the virus. The two nursing homes in the city of Ashdown, Little River Nursing & Rehab. had five deaths, and Pleasant Manor Nursing Home had 14 deaths. The third nursing home in the county, Bailey Creek Health & Rehab. in Texarkana, hasn’t had any deaths, according to ADH.