Salt Lake City’s East Central Community has serious concerns related to the recent announcement made by the Utah Department of Health and the Governor’s Utah Coronavirus Task Force about the plan to turn the City Creek Post-Acute Nursing Home into a 72-bed coronavirus acute care facility. Our understanding is that this facility is being planned as a site for patients not yet recovered from coronavirus, contagious and many with serious underlying issues.
As a community we have extensive experience with this facility as an immediate neighbor and through relatives, friends and clients who have been patients under both the current and past owners. Concerns about the care level at the facility have been noted by countless neighbors in community council meetings for the last two decades. Community member reports suggest that the staff are friendly but may not be providing the highest possible level of care according to best practice standards
Our concern is heightened because as a nation we have seen significant spread of coronavirus among patients and staff of nursing homes and care centers. We have seen too many of these elderly and vulnerable patients die.
If it is correct that this facility has been named, we are seriously concerned about the current protocols, training and experience in place among the existing staff. We are worried that staff at this facility may not be prepared to handle these types of serious cases. We are also concerned about the building, particularly its existing ventilation system.
We believe if this is to be an effective center, this facility needs to seriously step up and expand protocols and training to not only safeguard in-house patients but the neighbors and neighborhood as well. We also feel the facility itself needs to be inspected for contamination risks related to the ventilation system within and without the building.
For example, with contagious coronavirus patients in the facility, and at a time when social distancing has been requested of us all, the staff congregate daily (as recently as April 15), three to five or more people at a time, throughout the day for smoke breaks on the corner of 200 South 1000 East sitting side by side on the sidewalk near a bus stop. Staff have been observed doing this with no face masks, gloves or social distancing. This shows a disregard for patients, vulnerable neighbors at the bus stop and the neighborhood in general. With new incoming patients still potentially shedding the virus, we are concerned that the current staff may not adhere to protocols designed to determine contagious status and prohibit exposure to visitors and the general public.
This neighborhood wants to do our part in stopping this current health threat facing us all. Given our proximity to multiple hospitals, we agree that our neighborhood is a good location for a coronavirus care facility. However, we want to offer concrete feedback about the specific selected location to help our community fight this current plague and to achieve the best possible outcomes for our elderly and at-risk neighbors.
We have an extensive number of facilities and buildings in this community area, many of which are empty with better and newer mechanical systems in place, that could be converted to this type of use. We also have the Salt Lake Regional Hospital that has staff trained and capable to handle this type of event without putting others at risk.
We want to see everyone have the absolute best chance of recovery. We also want to be assured our neighborhood will be protected. It is possible that we have been misinformed and there is already staff retraining, staff monitoring, or replacement expected. And perhaps a ventilation inspection and upgrade is already planned for this facility. If this is the case, awesome. Better to have been safe than sorry. If not, we hope those making this decision will take our feedback to heart and act in a constructive manner.
We have spoken very plainly but we mean no offense to the facility or its staff. We are simply taking the current conditions very seriously and want to give feedback to help safeguard all involved including the immediate neighbors.
Esther Hunter is chair of Salt Lake City’s East Central Community Council.
Donate to the newsroom now. The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity and contributions are tax deductible