A Denton senior care facility is under state investigation after nine COVID-19 deaths were reported by Denton County health officials, a spokeswoman for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission said Friday.
Three deaths at Senior Care at Denton Post Acute Care, also known as Brinker Denton Senior Care Center or Senior Care Health and Rehabilitation Center, were reported Wednesday by Denton County health officials. Six more deaths were reported Thursday. The county did not report any additional deaths Friday.
“Protecting the health and safety of the people in long-term care facilities we regulate is our top priority,” said commission spokeswoman Danielle Pestrikoff. “We are actively investigating this facility to assess its compliance with all relevant health and safety rules.”
The facility did not respond to several requests for comment this week.
The deaths reported this week, according to county health officials, include a man in his 60s, two men in their 70s, three women in their 70s and three women older than 80.
According to the most recent state data, as of Dec. 4, the facility had no active cases and 15 total cases — three among employees and 12 among residents. At that point, no residents had died of COVID-19.
It is unclear how many cases the facility has had since Dec. 4. The county does not track the number of cases at individual facilities.
“Since the data is provided by the facility and needs to be vetted for accuracy, there is a lag in data entry,” Pestrikoff said. She said the investigation began Dec. 9.
Pestrikoff said the state will be able to provide updates on the investigation “in the coming weeks.”
According to the state, the facility had 20 health and safety violations in its last inspection, in May 2019. Those violations — ranging from lighting and sprinkler regulations to controlled drug storage and making sure residents get proper medical appointments — were corrected by the next month, according to a state database.
Other Denton County long-term care facilities have had deadly outbreaks of COVID-19 that have sparked investigation from the state.
In April, the Denton State Supported Living Center had one of the state’s largest outbreaks of the virus at that time. It has recorded 166 cases and two deaths since the pandemic began. In October, Saddle Brook Memory Care in Frisco reported 11 deaths to the state, launching a similar investigation.
At all long-term care facilities in Denton County, there have been 579 cases of COVID-19 and 75 deaths, as of Friday. Countywide, Denton County has reported 33,822 cases and 183 deaths.
