Skilled Nursing Facility In Riverside Reopens After Being Evacuated In April
RIVERSIDE (CBSLA) — A skilled nursing facility in Riverside that was evacuated after workers failed to show for work two days in a row reopened Friday and is accepting new patients.
More than 80 patients were evacuated from the Magnolia Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Riverside was evacuated on April 8 after most of the nurses failed to show up to work at the 90-bed facility two days in a row.
Riverside County officials say the facility worked with them and the state for months on its reopening plan, which included additional employee training and personal protective equipment. The facility had also been visited twice in recent weeks by the county's Skilled Nursing Facility Outreach and Support teams.
"This is a facility where long-time employees formed bonds with patients for many years," Riverside University Health System's Dr. Frank Flowers said in a statement. "Back in April, many of those employees tested positive for the coronavirus and did not go to work to protect those people. It was heartbreaking for these workers to not be with their patients."
Dr. Flowers said the facility started accepting patients again Friday.