Coronavirus Latest: 4 Recently-Admitted Jesuit Priests At Baltimore County Nursing Home Test Positive For COVID-19
TIMONIUM, Md. (WJZ) -- Four recently-admitted residents at a Baltimore County nursing home have tested positive for the coronavirus, officials said Tuesday.
All four people were admitted to Stella Maris in Timonium, a spokesperson for the facility said. They were all admitted "directly into a dedicated COVID-19 unit, which is separate from the rest of the building and has a dedicated staff of healthcare professionals," the facility said in a statement.
The spokesperson did not provide further updates citing a policy to not discuss specific patients, but WJZ has learned all four are Jesuit priests who were evacuated from an infirmary in the Philadelphia area.
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Rebecca Cook said her mother is a 93-year-old resident at Stella Maris and was shocked to hear the news.
"It's unbelievable," Cook said. "I don't understand why they would do something like that."
Cook said she got a letter from the facility. The letter said, over the weekend, the priests were treated as persons under investigation. They tested positive for coronavirus and were admitted to a designated COVID-19 unit.
In a statement to WJZ, the nursing home said they're taking precautionary steps to stop the spread of the virus, like screening staff members upon entry, not allowing any visitors or non essential personal and cancelling all group activities within the facility.
Cook, however, said since there hadn't been any positive cases on campus, she questions why the nursing facility brought them here in the first place.
"It's one thing if they were in state, but these people are coming from Philadelphia, so they have places in Philadelphia," Cook said. "They have hospitals, they have places set up to take people like this."
John Schweitzer told WJZ his parents are in an independent living hall at Stella Maris. He said he's upset by the decision the facility made.
"I already can't see my parents," he said. "They are 93. Now, they brought the disease to this building, and I don't think it's fair."
The facility does have what's called a Certificate of Need from Governor Larry Hogan's office. It designates the facility to create an 18 bed unit for coronavirus patients - that includes residents that become sick or patients who were released from the hospital and need extra care.
Stella Maris said in a letter to family members that "the decision to accept the priest was not made lightly and is in keeping with our Mission to care for the sick and the elderly."
One employee at Stella Maris, who did not want to be identified, said he's comfortable with going to work.
"I think we are doing a great job," the employee said. "We have really been trying to cut down on the people coming into the facility, which is good, and everybody who comes in has their temperature checked."
Nursing homes have been hit especially hard in Maryland and elsewhere; 24 residents of the Pleasant View Nursing Home in Mount Airy have died and dozens more residents and staff members have tested positive.
There are confirmed cases of COVID-19 at 90 or more nursing home and long-term care facilities in the state, health officials said.
The significant spread of the virus within enclosed communities led Gov. Larry Hogan to announce the creation of "strike teams" to bolster facilities' abilities to respond to the pandemic.
For the latest information on coronavirus go to the Maryland Health Department's website or call 211. You can find all of WJZ's coverage on coronavirus in Maryland here.
