It is a shame how some people treat the elderly as though they are trash. When people think of putting their loved ones in a nursing home, they think they are going to get the best care possible.
This is not always the case, especially in this small New Jersey town. Police received an anonymous phone call that tipped them off; there was a body being placed inside a shed. This came a few days after body bags were requested from the nursing home.
When police arrived to investigate, the body was no longer in the shed. Still, the police looked around, and inside the nursing home, what they found disturbed them deeply. They found 17 bodies piled up in a room that resembled a small morgue. The room was only big enough to hold four bodies.
Eric C. Danielson, the police chief in Andover, stated, “They were just overwhelmed by the number of people who were expiring.”
Andover Subacute and Rehabilitation Center I and II had 68 deaths total, which came from the nursing home. Of the 68, the 17 were included, and according to two nurses, 26 people were tested positive for COVID-19. There were no records as to the cause of death for the others who had died.
Out of those who reside in the nursing home who are housed in both buildings, 76 of the elderly tested positive along with 41 of the nursing home staff members and one administrator. All this was uncovered during a federal official’s investigation after the county’s health records were released.
New Jersey’s nursing home was not alone, as New York’s nursing homes lost patients by the thousands to COVID-19. They are claiming to struggle with a lack of PPE, growing numbers of sick patients, and staff.
There are a few things that come to mind when we hear stories such as these. The first set of red flags is how they can be short on PPE? Didn’t they claim they were getting all the help they need in these states? Something is not right with all that is happening, and people are starting to question what is really going on.
Why all of a sudden are the bodies being seen thrown into sheds? Why are the bodies then moved back into a room which is not big enough to fit the dead? Where is the respect for the elderly and the dead?
Andover Subacute has beds for 700 patients and is the largest licensed nursing home in the state of New Jersey. Family members of these patients are now demanding answers. They are taking to their local representatives and posting on social media.
Democratic Representative Josh Gottheimer explained, “The challenge we’re having with all of these nursing homes, is once it spreads, it’s like a wildfire. It’s very hard to stop it.”
The red flags, which also should be taken into consideration, is the nursing home was rated a one-star before the pandemic broke out. This is well below average and failed from inspections, from Medicare for staffing, and patient care. We can tell they don’t care much for the patients if they are going to discard the bodies with this level of disrespect.
All of the nursing homes across the nation are considered locked down where there are no visitors allowed, and some have it fixed to where no one can leave the facilities. No one is allowed to take phone calls from reporters from the news media. The owner Chaim Scheinbaum declined to return emails and phone calls.
One lady started a group on Facebook for the family members who have loved ones in the nursing home. She posted, “I feel so helpless. I feel like everyone is going to get COVID. What do we do?”
Tuesday, a post from staff members who also want answers read, “To all the people calling into the governor’s office, the congressman’s office to help us tell them WE NEED HELP!” The post went up Monday at 7:18 pm, and by Wednesday, the post was deleted without a trace. Something is not right with this picture.
The media caught word of what was happening and covered the story about the bodies which were found at the nursing home. Fear spread quickly.
It was reported there were two separate shipments sent a week apart, which contained 3,200 surgical masks, 10,000 gloves, and 1,400 N95 masks. Residences and family members are not allowed any form of communication. The question is, why?
