(Click on the image for Rebecca Tan and Rachel Chason' Washington Post report)
Caitlin Evans can pinpoint the first day she and other nurses believe they exposed residents of Sagepoint Senior Living center to the novel coronavirus.
The 26-year-old nurse spent half an hour on March 27 preparing a man with a bad cough to go to a hospital for a medical procedure.
Neither she nor other nurses who helped him to the ambulance wore masks or other protective gear. Despite their pleas, they said, managers told them that such protections were unnecessary.
Former and current employees at Sagepoint and six other nursing homes in Maryland say the virus spread rapidly as their facilities struggled with shortages of staff, testing and personal protective equipment. At several nursing homes, employees said, managers played down the severity of outbreaks and did not provide masks and gowns until patients had tested positive.
Update: From WJLA see Md. nursing home with most virus deaths fined $10K a day for failure to protect residents
A Charles County nursing home with the highest number of COVID-19 deaths among nursing home facilities in Maryland is being fined $10,000 a day for failing to protect residents and staff from the spread of the coronavirus, according to a letter from Maryland's Office of Health Care Quality.
The Office of Health Care Quality conducted a survey at Sagepoint Senior Living Services between April 21 and May 6 and it was determined that the facility didn't comply with state regulations including failure to obtain critical lab results on time, failure to use appropriate hygiene, failure to appropriately use personal protection equipment, and failure to cohort residents with suspected or known COVID-19, according to the Maryland State Department of Health.