As of Wednesday, the Mississippi State Department of Heath no longer considers Bedford Care Center of Hattiesburg, which has experienced 25 resident deaths from COVID-19, to have an active outbreak of the virus, according to an email shared with The PineBelt NEWS.
Shawn Carpenter, administrator of the nursing home, was informed of the updated status by Sandra Mapp, an emergency planner with the Health Department, early Wednesday afternoon, and nursing home officials shared that emailed notification with the newspaper.
In the email, Mapp said, “I’m closing out your outbreak,” and she noted the last “onset of illness” was on June 1 and “...14 days have passed with no new cases.”
Mapp also advises Carpenter to inform the department if the nursing home “gets another case in a resident or employee.”
In addition to the deaths, the nursing home has reported a cumulative total of 55 employee cases and 93 resident cases to the Health Department as of Friday.
On June 6, Carpenter told the newspaper that there were 22 residents – and five staff members – who were ill with the virus.
He said then that the facility, which has a capacity of 152 beds, had 77 residents.
The facility has the highest virus-related numbers of any such facility in the state, and family members of two former residents have called for the nursing home to be closed down by state authorities due to perceived negligence.
Liz Sharlot, director of communications for the Health Department, said in an email to newspaper staff members Wednesday that there are no disciplinary actions planned for the facility “at this time.”
