Chesco Coroner releases COVID-19 fatality statistics at long-term care facilities

WEST CHESTER — In response to requests from families and some of Chester County’s elected officials, the Chester County Coroner’s Office is releasing further information on COVID-19 deaths in long-term care facilities in Chester County.

Between March 28, 2020 and May 6, 2020, 183 residents of long-term-care facilities have lost their lives to COVID-19. According to the Chester County Health Department website, there are 75 licensed long-term care and personal care homes in the County. Thirty (40%) of those are recorded as having an outbreak, defined as at least one positive case, at this time. Twenty-four Chester County facilities have reported one or more COVID-19 deaths to the Coroner’s Office. Five of those facilities plus one nearby Montgomery County facility have had 10 or more residents die of confirmed or probable COVID-19.

As previously reported, the Southeast Veterans Center in East Vincent Township has been hard-hit by the pandemic. As of May 6, 34 residents of the Center had died of confirmed or presumed COVID-19, either at the facility or at a local hospital. The other 4 Chester County long-term care facilities with 10 or more deaths are Green Meadows Rehabilitation Center in Willistown Township, Brandywine Hall and Barclay Friends in West Chester Borough, and Personal Care at Bellingham in East Goshen Township. In addition, 20 residents of Parkhouse Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, a facility in Royersford, Montgomery County, died after transport and admission to a Chester County hospital. Coroners count all deaths that occur within a County, regardless of the residence of the decedent.

“Long-term care facilities take care of elderly persons with advanced lung, heart, neurological, and other diseases,” said Chester County Coroner Dr. Christina VandePol. “I believe the staff at these facilities has been doing the best they can while struggling with lack of resources, including nurses, PPE, COVID-19 tests, and space. As discussed at a State Senate Hearing yesterday, the vulnerability of nursing homes wasn’t recognized early on when the focus was on hospital preparedness. We need to support these facilities now, and just as importantly, we need to re-imagine what long-term care needs to look like in the future.”

The numbers of deaths reported here need to be interpreted with caution because facilities differ in size and in the type of patients they care for.

Long-Term Care Facilities with at least 10 COVID-19 Deaths

*Death occurred in a Chester County hospital