Losing a loved one, no matter how old they are, is difficult for the family. Feeling helpless to help them when they are isolated in a COVID-19 wing adds to the frustration.

Bev Waring of Shawnee lost her stepfather William “Bill” Roulette, a World War II Army Air Corps pilot, last Monday. He had been a resident at Pleasant Valley Manor Nursing Home in Stroudsburg for the last few years.

She wonders how this could have happened.

Waring said her stepfather’s mind was sharp, and physical fitness was important to him. Even though he was 93, he was still driving a car to the local Retro Fitness, until all the fitness centers were closed in March due to the virus.

“He was very motivated to stay very healthy,” said Lisa Cohan, a friend of the family and a former fitness instructor.

She said that even after his hip replacement at the age of 90, he would do arms and squats at her fitness studio.

“He moved exceptionally well. … Sure a little bit slower than a 35-year-old, but he did the movements.”

Waring said after the fitness centers were closed, Roulette told her he was using the gym at the nursing home.

“Bill was the healthiest person in that facility,” Cohan added.

About March 31, he had a fever, so the nursing home took him to St. Luke’s Monroe Campus to be tested for COVID-19. When he returned to the home that day, he was moved to the isolation unit along with his roommate.

“There are not private rooms for sick residents on the second floor,” Waring said.

Once the test came back, the family was notified that he did have COVID-19. They chose not to tell him, because they didn’t want to worry him.

Then on April 8, the nursing home took him to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Pocono.

“Last Friday was the first day he said, ‘I don’t feel well,’?” Waring said. Over the weekend he seemed to be getting better, and the doctor at LVH-Pocono told her that his vitals were very good.

“Then Monday morning, we found out he wasn’t going to make it,” she said. He died that afternoon.

“I spoke with him 3-4 times a day on the phone, and he would ask why they weren’t coming by to help him brush his teeth or wash his face. He said he would feel better if they could just do that.”

Waring said he used to do that for himself, but he was told not to get out of bed.

“Since we could not physically go into the nursing home during this pandemic to advocate for our loved one, we had to trust that they were doing what was right. Somehow, I feel that they weren’t with many staff members out sick,” she said. “If we had removed him, he would be alive today.”

Waring said the staff didn’t wear protective gear until after he was moved to the isolation unit. In early April, he told his family the staff started to wear what he called “full hazmat gear.”

Waring said she was told by a staff person that some only have masks and gloves, and they are concerned that they are not protected enough.

Kerri Gallagher, director of District Council 87 of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, of which members of PVM are affiliated, said she has not heard anything from their president about the concerns of the employees, but she would look into it.

DOH Director Dr. Rachel Levine said during her news briefs that employees who are concerned that they are not receiving enough protective wear should try to correct the situation by letting their employers know about their concerns.

“But if that’s not possible, we do have an anonymous complaint line for our nursing homes, and workers or anyone can call that anonymous hotline,” she said.

The phone number is 800-254-5164, or email c-ncomplai@pa.gov. There is also a complaint form that can be submitted online. Access the website at health.pa.gov. And letters can be mailed to: Division of Nursing Care Facilities Director

Pennsylvania Department of Health

Division of Nursing Care Facilities

625 Forster St., Room 526, Health and Welfare Building

Harrisburg, PA 17120-0701

“The guidance that we issued is very important and for the most part, we expect facilities to comply with that guidance as well as the guidance of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services,” Levine said.

The state is also encouraging nursing homes to use training information by ECRI, which is a federally certified patient safety organization by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and designated as an evidence-based practice center by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

“We are very pleased with our collaboration with ECRI to provide this infection control virtual guidance and advice to nursing homes, which are very challenged right now,” she said.