Turlock Nursing Home Reports Another Death, Responds After Upset Widow Airs Concerns
TURLOCK (CBS13) - Jack Wilmeth worried about his wife Janet the moment she was released from the Turlock Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.
Barely able to get her in the house and lift her into bed, Janet's recovery would be difficult, he thought. When he received a call the day after Janet got home, notifying him about residents and staff members testing positive for COVID-19, his concerns only grew.
"I would like to have a formal apology, I would also like them to be more communicative with the media -- let everybody know what's going on," said Wilmeth.
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After reporting another death and bringing the total to 17, the facility is releasing more details about their procedures. They posted an update on facility's website reading, in part:
"In consultation with the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency, we decided to contact all former residents who had received care at our facility within the previous two weeks to inform them about the situation, ask if they were experiencing any symptoms and encourage them to reach out to their primary health care provider."
Wilmeth paints a different picture of what happened once his wife left the facility.
"They said, 'well, we've had three of our staff members and three of our patients tested positive.' Ok, so you're going to test now because she was there and I know she had to be exposed and they said 'it's not our problem.'
Shortly after Janet got home, Jack then began feeling sick. They both tested positive for COVID-19 and Jack could barely care for Janet. She died 19 days after leaving the Turlock Nursing home.
"A hospice nurse called to update me on what was going on, asked if I'd like to say a few words to her over the phone and I did," said Wilmeth.
