MANATEE COUNTY – Two nursing homes in Manatee County owned by the same company accounted for more than 100 reported COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday, April 21, according to Dr. Jennifer Bencie.
Bencie is the County Health Officer for the Florida Department of Health (FDOH) in Manatee County and she shared this information with county commissioners on Tuesday.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Bencie said 14 of Manatee County’s 33 COVID-19 deaths at that time were “directly related to the nursing homes.”
She also said there were eight nursing homes in the county at the time that reported at least one COVID-19 case with a resident or staff member.
As of Saturday morning, nine long-term care facilities in Manatee County reported 179 COVID-19 cases and 18 COVID-19-connected deaths. Manatee County ranked fourth highest in the state in long-term care facility cases and deaths. Only Miami-Dade County, Broward County and Palm Beach County had more. Sarasota County ranked 13th, with 56 reported cases and 14 reported long-term care facility deaths.
“To date, there have been 356 long-term care facilities associated with positive cases of COVID-19. Of the 2,748 cases of residents or staff in long-term care facilities, 299 have died,” according to FDOH’s Saturday morning email update.
Saturday’s FDOH update included a link to an updated eight-page list of COVID-19 positive long-term care facilities in Florida. That list now includes a ninth facility in Manatee County: The Cottages of Bradenton, an assisted living and memory care center that was not among the first eight facilities in Manatee County named in the initial list released Saturday, April 18.
The facilities list does not distinguish among residents, patients and staff members and does not specify how many cases are associated with any particular facility.
Bencie’s report
On Tuesday, Bencie said about three weeks ago she became aware of two large nursing homes in Manatee County that were owned by the same company, had a shared capacity of 328 beds and had 103 residents and staff members who tested positive for COVID-19.
“They were owned by the same company. The company took it upon themselves to test all of the staff and clients when they started seeing the uptick. Getting those tests back in the last week, 66 residents and 37 staff in those two facilities were positive,” Bencie said.
“Not only were those staff members working in both facilities, but also going out into other facilities where we’ve since learned other persons have been testing positive. We had actually had to serve a forced (quarantine) order against one of the employees who knowingly went to another facility and persons became positive,” Bencie said.
Bencie said because those two facilities saw so much COVID-19 activity, the health department immediately submitted a mission request to the state that resulted in the arrival of a three-nurse assessment team.
“Unfortunately, they were only here for three days because they were pushed to the east coast. We received eight nurses on Easter morning and they have been with us ever since, going initially into these two facilities, doing assessments, making recommendations, making changes and also moving into the other six facilities that we know have at least one case,” Bencie said.
“Visitors were not allowed to come into these facilities for more than a month now. So, we need to keep an eye on the staff. They’re the ones who are bringing it in. We have made sure they take temperatures every morning of all the employees coming in. We’re hoping we’re catching people who do develop symptoms before they get in and start assisting with the patients,” Bencie said.
Bencie said she also refers to nursing homes and other similar facilities as skilled nursing facilities or SNFs.
“Because there are 321 SNFs in Florida currently with at least one positive case, the governor has allowed us to have the National Guard come in and test in SNFs that need further attention. We have put a request in for National Guard to come and test the six sites and many others. We have about 45 facilities we’re tracking in the county to do testing. We hope that they will come in soon,” Bencie said.
Bencie said she has seven nurses who were previously working in schools that now make daily calls to nursing homes, assisted living facilities, Hospice facilities and dialysis centers to monitor those case numbers and needs.
On Thursday, The Sun emailed Bencie and several Manatee County officials seeking the names of the two facilities that Bencie said produced 103 positive test results, and the name of the individual she said received an involuntary order.
Later that day, The Sun received an email from the county records division that said, “The Department of Health is the appropriate entity to respond to this request.” That email recommended contacting Beverly Diehr, who serves as chief counsel for the FDOH.
As of Saturday afternoon, Diehr and Bencie had not acknowledged or responded to The Sun’s requests for information. The Sun also left a voicemail at Diehr’s cell phone number on Saturday afternoon.
Facility ownership
According to The Sun’s research, two of the nine long-term care facilities in Manatee County that reported COVID-19 cases list ownership by LLCs that share the same mailing address and registered agent.
According to www.medicare.gov, Braden River Rehabilitation Center at 2010 Manatee Ave. E. in Bradenton is owned by Braden River Rehabilitation Center LLC.
According to the Florida Division of Corporations, Braden River Rehabilitation Center LLC lists 101 Sunnytown Road, Suite 201, in Casselberry as its mailing address and Tallahassee-based Cogency Global Inc. as its registered agent.
According to www.medicare.gov, Riviera Palms Rehabilitation Center at 926 Haben Blvd. in Palmetto is owned by Sovereign Healthcare of Palmetto LLC – an LLC that lists the same Casselberry mailing address and registered agent as Braden River Rehabilitation Center.
None of the other seven facilities that reported COVID-19 cases share a common mailing address or registered agent.
According to www.medicare.gov, Bradenton Health Care at 6305 Cortez Road W. in Bradenton is owned by 6305 Cortez Road West Operations LLC.
Casa Mora Rehabilitation and Extended Care at 1902 59th St. W. in Bradenton is owned by FI-Casa Mora LLC.
Manatee Springs Rehabilitation and Nursing Center at 5627 Ninth St. E. in Bradenton is owned by Manatee Operating LLC.
Residence at Bay Vue at 105 15th St. E. in Bradenton is owned by Riverfront Acquisition I LLC.
Westminster Point Pleasant, 1700 Third Ave. W. in Bradenton is owned by Presbyterian Retirement Communities Inc.
Brookdale Bradenton Gardens and The Cottages of Bradenton are not listed at Medicare.gov.
According to Manatee County Property Appraiser records, the Brookdale Bradenton Gardens property at 5612 26th St. W. in Bradenton is owned by Emerifrat LLC. The Cottages of Bradenton property at 5700 24th St. E. in Bradenton is owned by Louisa Holding LLC.
