More North Texas Nursing Home Residents Evacuated After COVID-19 Cases Surge
LAKE WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - Thursday morning paramedics and state contractors were busy evacuating some 30 patients from a North Texas nursing home a after a third of the residents there tested positive for COVID-19.
A number of agencies are at the Lake Worth Nursing Home to put remaining residents in ambulances and take them to their new homes.
Crews began moving patients out on Wednesday, but the massive operation is taking longer than expected.
Officials with MedStar Mobile Healthcare say the state asked them to transport all of Lake Worth nursing home's 63 residents to other facilities.
Patients and staff at the facility were tested last week for the novel coronavirus and 25 of the residents turned up positive.
MedStar is taking precautions -- handling staff and patients as if they all have COVID-19. Each patient is being escorted to ambulances in full protective gear.
Several hours of transporting moved 37 patients from the facility on Wednesday and crews will take out another 26 Thursday.
CBS 11 News is still looking into what conditions at the nursing home prompted the state to move so quickly to evacuate all the residents.
The facility does have a below average rating by federal agencies.
The Texas Department of Health and Human Services has launched an investigation into the facility's compliance with health and safety rules.