GREENFIELD, Ind. — A COVID-19 outbreak is raging through a Greenfield nursing home.
Nearly 50 percent of the residents at the Brandywine Golden Living Center have contracted the virus. With growing infections among residents and staff, the facility has become a COVID-19 hotspot.
13 Investigates has learned the outbreak is spreading fast and impacting both residents and staff.
According to data from Golden Living Centers, 37 of the 83 residents living at Brandywine as of Dec. 4, had contracted COVID-19. That's a nearly 50 percent infection rate.
Another 22 residents had tested positive for COVID-19 in the previous two weeks.
Golden Living has two dozen facilities statewide. Of those facilities, the Greenfield location has the second highest rate of infection among residents and the highest number of staff members to test positive for COVID-19 since the latest outbreak.
As of Friday, Dec. 4, at least seven employees were positive for COVID-19. A total of 21 staff members had confirmed positive cases two weeks prior.
Fountainview Place in Portage — another Golden Living Center community — is experiencing a similar outbreak.
Golden Living declined an on-camera interview and did not say what caused the outbreak. But the company confirmed it is relying on help from its own statewide "COVID-19 Team" and the Indiana National Guard.
"We have received five personal care attendants from the National Guard; we are a priority-listed community for the Indiana COVID-19 workforce reserve program," a spokesperson for Golden Living said in a statement.
The workforce reserve program was set up by the State Department of Health to hire retired health care workers to provide support for facilities in urgent need.
Neither the state nor the Hancock County Health Department responded to specific questions about the outbreak at Brandywine.
According to Golden Living, the company will consult both the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the CDC to deal with the staffing issues created by the outbreak.