Long-term care facilities make up the majority of COVID-19 facility-wide public health investigations across Wisconsin.
Within the state, 59 investigations at long-term care facilities such as nursing homes and assisted living sites are currently underway.
Anita Rogers was a tough but loving mother to Mindy Williams.
"I miss so many things about her. I do," said Mindy.
Mindy says the two enjoyed playing cards and coloring together.
"She left here in such a way that I wouldn’t want that to happen to my worst enemy," said Mindy.
Anita was a resident at Allis Care Center in West Allis. COVID-19 halted visits to the nursing home in March. Mindy says after that she struggled to get with her mom over the phone before Anita was hospitalized with a fever.
Anita was moved to hospice before she died from complications of COVID-19. The threat of the virus forced the family to stay away.
According to the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's records, Anita is 1 of 8 Allis Care Center residents whose death is tied to COVID-19, the highest such total of any long-term care facility in Milwaukee County.
Recent data from the Department of Health Services shows 39 percent of Wisconsin's COVID-19 were in long-term care facilities including nursing homes and senior apartments.
"If they could’ve made it so that we could’ve least seen her talk to her or something maybe it wouldn’t be so hard I don’t know," Mindy wondered.
Exceptional Living Centers which runs Allis Care Center says concerned family members can call and ask for the executive director.
A spokesperson says starting Monday they are offering families automated phone calls to get daily briefings on the community.
Mindy hopes sharing her story will push more people to stay persistent in checking on their loved ones.
Full statement from Exceptional Living Centers below:
Any family member who is concerned about a loved one can call 414-453-9290 and ask for Christina Said, Executive Director. However, we are only able to release patient information to the primary healthcare representative and it’s the responsibility of the representative to share updates with the rest of the family.
Starting today, we are implementing automated phone calls to provide a daily briefing about what is happening in our community and all family members are welcome to sign up for this free service. We will continue to make personal phone calls to the primary healthcare representative in regards to healthcare updates of individual residents.
We encourage our residents and family members to stay in touch through Zoom or Facetime calls which our staff is available to help facilitate. Families may also send loved ones free e-cards through our website. We have also worked to improve our Facebook presence to share updates and photos of residents (who have granted us permission to do so).
We are acting in full compliance with local and state guidelines in regards to reporting and will continue to comply with any new guidelines as they become available.
