COVID-19 test results are coming in after a reported outbreak at a memory care facility in Plano.
Fire-Rescue personnel had been conducting state-mandated COVID-19 tests at the Arbor Hills Memory Care Community when they discovered the cluster of symptoms at the 69-bed facility in the 2600 block of West Plano Parkway, between Independence Parkway and Custer Road.
Of the approximately 30 residents in the community on Monday, 19 were taken to the hospital with possible COVID-19 symptoms.
Tuesday, Koelsch Communities, which operates Arbor Hills published an update of test results saying 18 residents tested positive, 2 residents tested negative and 8 residents have unknown results.
The company said eight staff members, so far, have tested positive for COVID-19.
“We were really shocked because we had just been in that facility not that long ago,” said Gaylen Grenier who tells NBC 5 her family visited the facility early Sunday morning to spend their last moments with her 88-year-old grandmother who later passed away.
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Grenier’s grandmother suffered from dementia and Grenier said her uncle, the power of attorney for her grandmother, received notice late last week of a staff member testing positive.
Grenier said the family did not know residents were becoming ill.
“That many people don’t just wake up one morning and suddenly they’re symptomatic,” said Grenier.
A spokesperson for the “Arbor Hills Memory Care Community” said it has been in touch with a local liaison for state health officials since a staff member first tested positive June 8. The staffer elected to get tested on June 6 outside of work, according to the spokesperson.
On June 12, four days after the first positive test, the facility said health officials committed to testing everyone on site.
On June 13, the facility said June 15 was picked as the date for the state’s Rapid Assessment Quick Response Force testing of all residents and staff.
The Texas Department of State Health Services referred NBC 5’s questions to Texas Health and Human Services.
HHS said NBC 5 would have to request a final report when an investigation is complete and that it is investigating all long-term care facilities in the state that report one or more positive case of COVID-19.
“I want families to be safe, I want people in the facilities to be safe, I want the staff to be safe and that only happens if people are talking to each other,” said Grenier.
Grenier said she’s unsure if her grandmother had COVID-19 symptoms before she passed away, but said the confusion has compounded her family’s grief.
Arbor Hills Memory Care Community said none of the staffers who tested positive returned to work and the community is following CDC and health department guidelines for screening of visitors and staff.
It also said it called powers of attorney for residents about the testing.
*Map locations are approximate, central locations for the city and are not meant to indicate where actual infected people live.
