OWINGS MILLS, Md. — An Owings Mills family is working to remove their loved one from a rehab facility after learning patients tested positive for COVID-19.
"She hasn't said it yet but I think she's a little scared," said Heather Ross. "She's fearful of what this means because this is all very new."
Ross asked WMAR-2 News not to reveal her mother's full name out of fear of retaliation. Her mother is 77-years-old and currently at a patient at Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center in the sub-accute rehab unit.
"She's been there for the last two month," said Ross. "Everything was fine. I would visit her every day. The staff they were wonderful."
But that all changed on March 10.
"When I drove up that that they had a giant sign that said no visitors," she said.
Since then her only means of communication with her mom has been through Facetime.
Yesterday Ross along with her mother learned patients and a staff member tested positive for COVID 19.
On Wednesday officials said there were five confirmed cases. One case is a patient in the specialty hospital and three others are patients in the sub-acute rehab unit. One staff member has also tested positive and is in self quarantine.
Currently no visitors are allowed at either nursing home.
"I've been calling and calling administration," she said. "I have left messages. My family has left messages. We just wanted to see what practice they have in place to ensure that everyone is safe."
Ross has been unsuccessful but says she is working to remove her mother from the facility ahead of her discharge date.
"We're not getting the information the way we should from the facility, from the hospital, from really Lifebridge," she said.
In a statement to WMAR 2 News Lifebridge responded to family concerns with this statement:
"We know this has been a stressful time for everyone, and the entire Levindale team is working around the clock to ensure the health and safety of our residents, patients and colleagues.
We understand this may be an especially difficult time because of the “no visitor” policy in place to protect our residents, patients and families.
Levindale knows the importance of communication. We have let our families know that we would be contacting them should there be a change in the condition of their loved one.
However, we appreciate that not hearing anything, while a sign of stability, may cause some anxiety, and we have been doing our best to respond to calls and emails from families as quickly as possible while taking care of our patients and residents in these extraordinary times.
Following the recent positive COVID-19 tests results, we immediately sent a letter to families to let them know these results as well as our strategies to limit the spread of the virus.
At Levindale, we truly think of our patients, residents and their families as part of our family and we appreciate the trust they have put in us to care for their loved ones."
