All But 1 Newton Nursing Home Pass First State Inspections

NEWTON, MA — The West Newton Healthcare scored 25 out of 28 in the first round of adherence checks by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, making it one of 119 nursing homes in the state to hit a 20-point threshold to pass, but failed in one or more of the six core standards, meaning they were also found to be in noncompliance.

Another 12 nursing homes failed to meet the 20-point threshold for compliance. The remaining 228 nursing homes scored 20 points or higher, including meeting the six core standards.

Read this, too: Coronavirus-Related Deaths Rise Above 100 In Newton

The inspections were the first in the COVID-19 Nursing Facility Accountability and Support Program announced by Gov. Charlie Baker on April 27. The audits, which are funded by $130 million the Baker administration allocated to slow the spread of the coronavirus in nursing homes, will be conducted every two weeks.

More than 30 residents at West Newton Healthcare, which is licensed for 130 beds, have tested positive for the virus that causes the illness known as COVID-19.

Newton has one of the highest in terms of raw numbers of coronavirus cases in the state, with the 28th highest number of cases as of Thursday. When it comes to the rate of infection, or the number of those who test positive compared to population, it was ranked 119 out of 351. Officials have attributed the high case count to the availability of testing and the city's congregant living facilities.

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Other Newton nursing homes included in the report:

• Care One at Newton scored 27 out of 28 and was listed as being in adherence by the state.
• Chetwynde Healthcare scored 25 out of 28 and was listed as being in adherence by the state.
• Heathwood Healthcare scored 28 out of 28 and was listed as being in adherence by the state.
• Stone Rehabilitation and Senior Living scored 28 out of 28 and was listed as being in adherence by the state.

The state didn't release a breakdown of scores for individual nursing homes showing where they failed to comply with the standards laid out in the program's compliance checklist.

Long-term care facilities account for 61 percent coronavirus-related deaths in Massachusetts. Of the states 88,970 confirmed coronavirus cases as of Wednesday, 18,801 were either patients or workers in long-term care facilities.

Read the complete nursing home inspection report.

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Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).

- Patch Staff Dave Copeland Contributed to this report.