Officials from the Mississippi State Department of Health continue to refuse to release the names of local long-term care facilities that have been tied to seven COVID-19 deaths.
As of Wednesday morning, 23 individuals living in local long-term care facilities have tested positive, including 22 of them in Forrest County, according to the department.
Statewide, there have been 965 cases and 125 deaths reported in similar facilities that include “nursing homes, intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities, personal care homes, assisted living facilities, long-term acute facilities and psychiatric or chemical dependency residential treatment centers.”
The Health Department considers these facilities to be “high-risk locations because their residents are older or in poor health,” and even one case of COVID-19 in these facilities among residents or employees is considered an outbreak, according to the department’s website.
Forrest County ranks 13th in the state in long-term care facility cases but third in facility deaths.
The PineBelt NEWS first contacted state officials on April 5 when the department reported the first positive case at a long-term care facility in Forrest County. The newspaper requested additional information about the case, including the name of the facility, when they were first notified of the case and what measures were being taken to protect other residents and employees of the facility.
In an April 6 email, Liz Sharlot, director of communications for the Health Department, said the department would not release the names of the long-term care facilities.
“We are not sharing individual information regarding these facilities. Those that need to know have been notified, and there are no visitors ... so risk of transmission to the public is not a factor,” she wrote.
On the same day, The PineBelt NEWS filed an official public records request with the department in an attempt to identify the facility and reach out to management officials about their strategy for limiting exposure to residents and members of the staff.
The Mississippi Public Records Act requires public bodies, such as the Health Department, to provide the media – and the public at large – documents related to the management of their department, except for specific, limited instances as defined by law.
According to the law, a public body has up to seven working days to provide “such records or copies, a place of inspection and a method of access.”
Despite its official inquiry, The PineBelt NEWS did not receive a reply from the department, and, on April 27, the newspaper filed a public records complaint with the Mississippi Ethics Commission. The commission is the state agency tasked with administering and enforcing ethics in government, including the enforcement of the Open Meetings Act and the Public Records Act.
In its capacity as the state ethics watchdog, the commission has a statutory obligation to order public bodies and any individual government employees or officials to produce records or take reasonable measures necessary to comply with the Public Records Act.
It may also impose a civil fine upon individuals who violate the Public Records Act and order them to pay all reasonable expenses incurred by the person bringing the complaint.
The commission forwarded a copy of the official complaint to Health Department officials on April 30 and gave them 14 days to issue a formal response.
On May 1, Sharlot emailed a letter to The PineBelt NEWS written by Jim Craig, the Health Department’s COVID-19 incident commander.
The letter, addressed to newspaper staff, said the department could not comply with the request because “(the department) is working around the clock to keep the citizens of Mississippi safe during this pandemic.”
It goes on to say that “as a result of the necessary work that must be done to combat COVID-19, we do not have the capacity or resources to respond to your request at this time.”
Craig closed the letter by saying the department will keep the request on file and will respond “when the State of Emergency is over and (the department) is no longer responding to the pandemic with such a high level of resources.”
Other Mississippi media outlets have met similar opposition when requesting information from the department. Reporters at The Clarion Ledger in Jackson submitted a records request to the department on April 2, and, as of April 28, had yet to receive any information.
In all, 32 states have begun releasing the names of long-term care facilities with outbreaks – many under pressure from media outlets and other groups, including the AARP.
Kimberly L. Campbell, AARP Mississippi state director, told The Clarion Ledger that the names of the facilities should be released in the interest of transparency.
“This transparency is critical for public health and the health and well-being of the residents and staff of these facilities,” she said. “Moreover, residents and family members deserve to have this information for their own health decisions and as they consider possible next steps and interventions for their loved ones.”
Federal officials, including Seema Verma, head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, have said nursing homes are “ground zero” for the virus.
The first COVID-19 hot spot in the United States was at a nursing home in Washington, and that outbreak eventually claimed 43 lives.
