Some R.I. nursing homes still won’t allow visitors this week

As Rhode Island nursing homes begin to open up again for visits, they are doing so in fits and starts.

Hebert Health & Rehabilitation in Smithfield, for example, initially told families this week that they weren’t going to allow visits yet, despite the state Department of Health saying nursing homes would be able to do so as of Wednesday.

But on Tuesday -- after a Providence Journal story online highlighted the situation -- the home said it would do so after all. Visits would have to abide by restrictions, as they must statewide.

”If you are not feeling well or have had any risk of coronavirus exposure, you simply should not visit,” said Kerri Cerra, the home’s administrator. “We certainly do not want to jeopardize our COVID-19 free environment.”

David Preston, a spokesman for the facility, said some visits had already been scheduled for Wednesday, the first day they’re available statewide.

Angelo Aiello was one of the many people who wants to visit a loved one in a Rhode Island nursing home. His mom, Angelina Pisaturo, is 95. He hasn’t seen her in months.

“I want to be able to see her again. I just feel bad,” Aiello said Tuesday.

Aiello said he tried to schedule a visit on Monday for Wednesday, but was told that he could not. On Tuesday, after The Journal’s story was published online, Aiello said he was contacted by the home about scheduling a visit. He has a 1 p.m. slot.

“I was so happy,” Aiello said. “I haven’t seen my mom in four and a half months after seeing her every day for 10 years.”

Hebert has had no COVID cases in a pandemic that swept through many other facilities in the state.

Which brings up another potential barrier to visitation at nursing homes and assisted living facilities: a new coronavirus case at a home in the last 14 days.

In announcing the policy change late on a Friday afternoon before a holiday weekend, the state highlighted in a news release a few of the restrictions that would be in place for visits in a standard policy for homes that didn’t have their own policies yet. For example, they had to be scheduled in advance, and for short periods.

Page 3 of that standard visitation policy revealed yet another restriction: If a home identifies a new COVID-19 case, they have to ban visitors again except in compassionate care situations. That ban has to remain in place for at least two weeks from the latest case, with no new cases since then.

Nursing homes in the state have dealt with at least 2,655 resident coronavirus cases since the pandemic began, and at least 725 resident deaths, around three quarters of the state total.

But cases have begun to wane. Just 20 to 24 cases were reported in the two weeks leading up to July 3, according to state data.

New cases were reported in the two weeks leading up to July 3 at Brookdale Sakonnet Bay in Tiverton; Greenville Skilled Nursing & Rehabilitation; Holiday Retirement Home in Manville; Riverview Healthcare Community in Coventry; and Scalabrini Villa in North Kingstown.

According to an ABC6 report, the rule on new COVID cases led to the cancellation of family visits at Riverview.

bamaral@providencejournal.com

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