No coronavirus cases at veterans home in Yountville, but many concerns

Apr. 20--One month after it closed its sprawling campus to visitors to protect its vulnerable residents from the coronavirus, the Veterans Home of California in Yountville has managed to stop the virus at its gates.

While veterans homes elsewhere have experienced outbreaks of the deadly virus, none of the approximately 600 daily employees or 775 residents at the Yountville facility -- the nation's largest veterans home -- have tested positive for the virus, according to the California Department of Veterans Affairs.

But tighter controls have increased the isolation, inactivity and confusion that already weighed upon some of the veterans living at the home, residents and care workers say.

And while the virus has not been detected yet inside the Yountville facility, some employees say they do not have adequate access to protective masks and other supplies. They fear the agency's policies, which require some health care workers to repeatedly reuse a single mask over the course of a week, place employees and elderly residents at risk for an outbreak of COVID-19, a respiratory disease caused by the virus.

CalVet said it is committed to protecting the health of residents and employees at its eight veterans homes, which provide a range of care from independent living communities to skilled nursing homes.

"In accordance with state and federal guidance, CalVet provided masks to all of our staff and residents at all of our homes, as one of the many additional steps we've taken to maintain the health and safety of our residents and staff," Lindsey Sin, the department's acting deputy secretary for communications, wrote in an email.

Health care workers at the Yountville home generally receive one mask a week, said Sin, who confirmed that this is the policy throughout the state's eight veterans homes.

"Of course we want to be judicious in the use of all of our supplies, so we're providing these masks weekly, unless they become overused or soiled and need to be replaced earlier," she added.

If a resident exhibits any flu-like symptoms, the home immediately implements infection-control protocols, placing ill residents in isolation and providing staff who treat them with additional protective gear, Sin said.

But the equipment dispersal places residents and staff at risk, according to two care workers who were interviewed separately and spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared retribution from supervisors. One said staff can replace a mask before the one-week threshold only if it is torn or wet, requiring them to reuse the same mask while interacting with multiple residents.

"This goes against everything I was ever trained for," she said. "Any germs, I'm bringing them room to room. They gave me a shield for if I have a close encounter. And then it's like 'be safe,' you know?"

The other employee, a nurse who also insisted on anonymity, said medical staff at the home are required to show their masks to the guard at the front gate upon arrival -- meaning they must bring potentially contaminated equipment into their cars following each shift.

Few workers in the Yountville facility are using N95 masks, which are designed to prevent airborne particles and liquids from contaminating the face, according to the two care workers.

Concerned about the limited supplies of masks at the Yountville facility, a former therapeutic care specialist recently made 60 cloth masks at home and delivered them to her former coworkers.

More recently, staff ran out of the Micro-Kill bleach wipes they are mandated to use when wiping down certain instruments between exams, according to the two health care workers. Staff had to make their own solution, one part bleach to four parts water, a process that takes valuable time and can damage clothing and irritate skin.

CalVet said the Yountville facility currently has adequate supplies of personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies.

"At this time our Yountville Home has ample PPE and disinfecting wipes and solutions," Sin wrote.

The stakes are high at Yountville and other veterans homes, which care for aging or disabled residents highly vulnerable to the coronavirus. Many people living on campus have chronic medical conditions and most are elderly, including World War II veterans in their 90s.

The most devastating outbreak at a veterans home occurred in Paramus, New Jersey, where COVID-19 has killed, at last count, 24 residents. There have been at least 23 confirmed cases of the virus at the Spokane Veterans Home in Washington, five in Redding and two in West Los Angeles, among other sites.

Starting March 15, CalVet closed the gate to all guests in Yountville, excluding people visiting dying patients in hospice care. At that time, the facility postponed group activities and trips, and instituted social distancing in the dining hall. The guidelines have been updated regularly since then. By now, the home has shut down all dining in the hall, established a designated isolation wing and begun taking the temperatures of all staff members daily.

Residents can receive boxed meals in their apartments or pick them up at the dining hall, and may still buy snacks and water at the PX (though some supplies are running shorter there). Social distancing is enforced everywhere.

While CalVet bars visitors from entering the grounds, it allows residents to leave the facility at their discretion.

"We are urging them to follow Governor Newsom's stay at home order and only leave for essential items such as groceries, medication, etc," Sin wrote. "If a resident leaves grounds for 48 hours or more, they are required to self-isolate in their room under observation for five days."

For the most part, the Yountville care workers have managed to shield their patients from worry.

"We feel very safe up here," said Carolyn Higdon, 77, a retired Army veteran who lives with her husband at the home.

The more restrictive environment is harder on some than others. For residents who are bedridden or particularly frail, life has barely changed in a month. Other veterans are coping with a jarring change of lifestyle and pine for the activities that once enriched their lives.

"Let me tell you what I was involved in," Higdon said. "I was chairwoman of the Allied Council. I belong to a drum circle, Jammers. A group called Ding-a-Lings, which is a bell choir. Line dancing during the week. Other dances on weekends. I'm in support groups for low vision and diabetes. So I was plenty active. I do miss that."

And now? "I've counted all my ceiling tiles," Higdon said, taking care to note it was a joke. "My home is clean, and so far I've been able to watch enough television that I hadn't seen before to keep me occupied."

Muriel Zimmer, known for her stirring rendition of the national anthem, is a widow, but has a long-time "significant other" who is under a higher level of care at the veterans home.

"Every day I would go up to his room and play rummy," said Zimmer, 85, a retired Air Force intelligence officer. "Now his ward is shut down. I don't get to see him, though we communicate by phone. I send him love notes."

The veterans consistently expressed gratitude for their cellphones, which have helped to keep them linked to family members and friends who can no longer visit.

CalVet is facilitating these connections. It recently purchased 15 iPads, and the Therapeutic Activities department there helps residents arrange video chats via FaceTime and other apps.

The veterans are allowed to walk and ride around the campus, and the library, gym and recreation center remain open, with social distancing enforced. Residents are getting by. Still, this new way of life can be difficult for men and women accustomed to sharing a meal at a table for six, or trading back slaps with their fellow former service members.

"You can get out, but with such restricted conditions, you kind of say, 'OK, I'm stuck here,'" said Eddie Olson, a 90-year-old Air Force vet who has spent 14 years in Yountville. "I watch a lot more TV, I'm reading a little more maybe. I also feel like my energy and interest in doing the things I like to do -- I can't say I'm really depressed, but I'm feeling the isolation, certainly."

Higdon is hoping the campus opens up soon. She and her husband, Malcolm, took turns in isolation following what doctors believed to be bouts of norovirus in February.

Then he suffered two infections during recovery. He's back at the veterans home, but under elevated care.

The Higdons are living a half-block apart. They haven't seen one another for a month.

You can reach Phil Barber at 707-521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @skinnypost

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