Residents and staff at a long-term care center in Allen County are among the first in Kentucky to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Cal Turner Rehab and Specialty Care in Scottsville is immunizing about 100 residents and workers this week. The nursing home is owned by Med Center Health whose hospital in Bowling Green was one of 11 in Kentucky to receive the state’s first shipment of the vaccine.
Eric Hagan, Vice President of Rural Hospitals for Med Center Health, says once residents and staff are vaccinated, the facility will be able to lift restrictions on visitation.
“I think this vaccine is not only an answer to prayers for that, but it will hopefully help people take advantage of those opportunities more to visit," Hagan commented. "Sometimes we get caught up in our daily routines and it’s not until we have an absence of something until we truly appreciate it.”
Sixty-six percent of the deaths attributed to COVID-19 in Kentucky are coming from long-term centers, and vaccinating staff and residents could drastically reduce the death toll from the disease throughout the commonwealth.
The coronavirus has overwhelmed hospitals and long-term care centers so much that members of the Kentucky National Guard are in some facilities providing non-medical support, which has allowed health care workers to focus on patient care.
