State agency fines Hayward nursing home for COVID violations; 14 deaths recorded
HAYWARD, Calif. - The state agency in charge of workplace safety has fined a Hayward nursing home for COVID violations following a deadly outbreak of the disease.
Cal-OSHA on Wednesday fined the Parkview Operating Company, which operates under the name of the Parkview Healthcare Center on Tampa Avenue, $67,500 for four serious violations.
In a separate suit, patients and families also accuse Parkview of overall neglect.
The state investigation was sparked because of death there, records show. Public records show that 14 people died of COVID-19 at the skilled nursing facility from March 2020 through Feb. 17, 2021.
Cal-OSHA's compliance officer Wendy Hogle-Lui found that in general, the nursing home did not protect its employees with the proper equipment, nor train them adequately.
She also said the Parkview failed to provide separate ventilation or filtration for all confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 and the company also failed to provide medical evaluations to determine whether staff knew how to use a respirator while caring for COVID-19 patients.
Her visit was made in early July.
In a statement, Parkview said: "We are appealing all citations. We believe we have been in substantial compliance with all applicable CA safety and health regulations and we take the health and safety of our workers very seriously."
On its website, the company also said it complies with all local, state and federal COVID regulations.
Parkview isn't the only nursing home facility that has had coronavirus problems.
According to public records obtained by the Bay Area News Group because of a judge's order, 436 people in Alameda County’s long-term care facilities have died from COVID-19, and at least 625 have been hospitalized.
Among the hardest-hit facilities were Crown Bay Nursing and Rehabilitation Facility in Alameda, where 118 people were infected and 21 died, according to the county’s data.
Hayward’s Gateway Care and Rehabilitation Center had 76 infections and 19 deaths.
Hayward Convalescent reported 18 deaths.
Bay View Nursing and Rehabilitation Center reported 15 deaths and 180 total cases — the highest number of cases among all the facilities listed, the data provided to the news organization showed.
KTVU's Rob Roth contributed to this report.
Lisa Fernandez is a reporter for KTVU. Email Lisa at lisa.fernandez@foxtv.com or call her at 510-874-0139. Or follow her on Twitter @ljfernandez