DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) – Families with loved ones at a Decatur senior living facility remain frustrated with health officials, and the facility over growing concerns regarding COVID-19.
"It is almost too late, you know,” James Ireland, whose mother is a resident at the facility, said. “It's claws are already dug in."
WAND was the first to report about pictures of staff at Fair Havens Living Facility not properly wearing protective gear to care for Ireland’s mother. Ireland provided WAND with pictures to support his claims.
Family upset after images appear to show care facility staff without protective gear
"It took releasing pictures to bring this all to light,” Ireland said.
Thirty-two people at Fair Havens have tested positive for COVID-19, five of those people have died. The Macon County Health Department Administrator Brandi Binkley said the images “concerned” her and she reported the images to the Illinois Department of Public Health, who oversees all care facilities in the state, including Fair Havens.
Binkley could not speak to why the staff was captured not wearing the proper gear, but said the staff knows they should.
"I can say with confidence that they have received the protocol from the Illinois Department of Public Health, that they have been spoken with by our facility many times and they have also been spoken with regarding these measures by IDPH so if the choice has been made internally or an employee choice by themselves,” Brandi said.
The Illinois Department of Health will now provide more training to the staff, and the goal is to now test all the residents and staff for the virus.
"I think they need to be held accountable for sure,” Ireland said. “There is clearly a lack of supervision, a lack of accountability."
Ireland’s mother is not one of the patients who has tested positive for COVID-19. WAND has reached out to Fair Havens and their attorney multiple times. WAND was told someone was working on getting answers to our questions, but we have not received any.
