PHOENIX — A Valley man fighting for his life after his daughter says his assisted living facility failed him.
“He wasn’t talking. He could barely lift his arm his hand up." Shannon Parys, daughter of Bill O'Brien, said.
O'Brien was a resident at Westchester Senior Living Center in Tempe.
However, on a visit to see him on Easter, Parys said she noticed her father was in pain.
"My dad was basically in a catatonic state," Parys said. "He wasn’t responding, his eyes were shut, I could tell he was in some sort of pain."
O'Brien's condition would worsen over the next 24 hours. Parys said she would go back to the nursing home to see her father through the window after being told by a nurse at the facility that they believed her father may have had a minor stroke.
“And my dad was literally almost left for dead,” Parys said “He was mangled like a pretzel, his oxygen was at 85 percent and he had a 101 temperature. We did get him over to Chandler Regional immediately and the next day I got a call that he was positive for COVID-19."
Since then, her father has been on a ventilator as doctors work to save his life.
O'Brien is more fortunate than his neighbor at the facility, who also became infected and later died.
Parys said she is calling for more transparency and communication in the system.
“This is just not right that we can’t be sharing this information,” Parys said.
Currently, there are more than 100 of these assisted living or nursing home facilities around the state that have at least a single case of COVID-19.
However, no data has been released to reveal which locations these places are and how many cases are at these facilities.
In an emailed statement from Westchester Senior Living Center's parent company, they confirmed there were COVID-19 cases at the facility:
"We have been notified that a number of residents and employees at Westchester Senior Living have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19. Our hearts go out to them and their families during this difficult time. We are notifying designated family members/caretakers as required by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The health and safety of our residents, employees and community is our top priority. We will continue to monitor this situation, and carefully track and respond to any additional cases. We are following strict CDC guidelines and recommended protocol to ensure the safety of our residents and staff. Out of privacy concerns for our residents, our employees and their families, we are unable to provide any additional information at this time."
Text messages to family members with loved ones at the facility Thursday afternoon said "there are now 29 residents residing in our care center and 15 living in Tivoli Memory care who have been diagnosed with the Coronavirus."
Parys said she wants to know the facilities that have cases and which ones don't.
However in a news conference Wednesday, state officials indicated they did not plan on sharing that data.
“I would talk to the facility, but I don’t think they have to release the number of cases or deaths," Dr. Cara Christ, Driector of the Arizona Department of Health Services said.
Dr. Christ said releasing the data violated state law and the state would not release the information unless there was a court order to do so.
"We don’t need to know the names, we just need to know what’s going on at these facilities,” Parys said.
In a letter to the Governor, AARP encouraged state health agencies to publicly make available the names of long-term care facilities with confirmed COVID-19 cases.
The document argues both HIPAA and state law likely allow for the release of the names for the facilities.
12 News will continue investigating the spread of the outbreak in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
If you or a loved one have information to share, contact us at connect@12news.com
