In response to coronavirus outbreak at Norwich nursing home, lawmakers seek executive order requiring health care workers to notify employer if they suspect they have COVID-19

State lawmakers Thursday asked Gov. Lamont to consider issuing an executive order requiring health care workers to notify their employer if they are experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms or if they believe they have been exposed to people with the potentially fatal virus.

The bill, sponsored by State Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, is in response to a coronavirus outbreak at Three Rivers Healthcare in Norwich. A state investigation of the facility cited numerous lapses in care -- including a supervising nurse who went to work July 27 while not feeling well and knowing family members were being tested for COVID.

The nurse at the Three Rivers Healthcare Center tested positive for COVID-19 three days later. In the outbreak at the facility, three residents have died and 21 have been infected, along with five staff members.

The state’s long-term care ombudsman has called for a criminal investigation into the employees “reckless” behavior. The state Department of Public Health is still investigating the facility.

“Heath care workers have a professional responsibility to maintain their health, since they are working around sick people. Like everyone else in the midst of this global pandemic, they also have a moral responsibility – I would say a heightened moral responsibility – to immediately report any suspected COVID infections to management, and they certainly should not come to work and possibly infect and kill others.

“But it appears that is exactly what happened,” Osten said.

Osten said an executive order would reinforce the seriousness of the issue. The letter was also signed by State Reps. Kevin Ryan, D-Montville, and Emmett Riley, D-Norwich.

Gov. Ned Lamont said Thursday “there were a lot of protocols that weren’t followed” in the Norwich situation. His Chief Operating Officer Josh Geballe said they will review Osten’s request for an executive order.

“DPH already has guidance out to screen employees for illness” Geballe said. “It’s common sense for everyone in our state, country and world if you don’t feel well stay home but that just didn’t happen here.”

Earlier this week, the state Department of Public Health released a “statement of deficiency,” regarding Three Rivers that cited the nursing home for a range of infection control deficiencies, including failure to properly use PPE and failure to properly quarantine an exposed resident.

There was insufficient staff at times, the report said, to designate staffers to work exclusively with patients who tested positive for COVID.

The problems cited by the state at Three Rivers Health include an episode involving a supervising nurse who showed up for work on July 27 after a family vacation despite not felling well and knowing that family members had been tested for COVID-19. The nurse, the state said, worked a double shift and didn’t wear a mask at least part of the shift.

In a statement released late Thursday, Scott Ziskin, President/CEO, JACC Health Center of Norwich, which operates Three Rivers Health Care, said that infection control policies and procedures in place kept the facility free of COVID for four months.

“Since the occurrence of positive COVID-19 cases reported in our home, we have been working with the state Department Public Health (DPH) and its epidemiologists as we monitor the health of our residents and staff.” he said. “This week, we submitted a comprehensive plan for corrective action to DPH, and we continue to work with DPH on a daily basis to implement the plan as the situation evolves.”

“We offer our deepest sympathies to the families and loved ones of the three residents who succumbed to the virus, and remain ever-vigilant in keeping everyone in the Three Rivers family safe,” Ziskin said.

The outbreak at Three Rivers has now expanded to Backus Hospital in Norwich, where at least nine employees have tested positive for the virus. All of the worked on the same floor where a Three Rivers resident was placed for several days.

The patient had tested negative for COVID-19 when they came to the hospital but tested positive as the hospital was getting ready to discharge him.

Dr. Ajay Kumar, chief clinical officer for Hartford HealthCare, which owns Backus, said the hospital has tested 68 employees since they became aware of the outbreak.

The other patients who were on the floor at the same time as the Three Rivers patient in question have been tested for the virus and were negative, he said.

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