2 more residents of Treyton Oak Towers die from COVID-19; others, including facility staff, are recovering

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Two more residents of Louisville retirement community Treyton Oak Towers have died after contracting the coronavirus, bringing the facility's virus-related death toll to 13.

Both of the victims were 95-year-old women, according to a news release from Treyton Oak Towers. One of the women died Friday at the facility in the Old Louisville neighborhood, and the other died Friday at Norton Hospital Downtown. Both women lived on Treyton Oak's skilled-nursing floor, which facility officials said houses "the most medically fragile residents." The two women were among seven virus-related deaths Gov. Andy Beshear reported during his Saturday briefing on the pandemic's impact on Kentucky.

Facility officials said the skilled-nursing floor has been divided into two wings — one housing seven residents who have tested positive for COVID-19 and the other housing 12 residents who do not have the virus.

In some good news, facility officials announced two residents and two employees have returned to Treyton Oak after recovering from the respiratory illness. The two residents who returned to the facility were among a group of residents who were transferred to Norton Hospital Downtown on April 9 and 11 after testing positive for COVID-19.

"After so much heartbreak and loss to this awful virus, we are truly thankful to celebrate the return of four members of the Treyton Oak family," Administrator Mike Wideman said in a news release. "We are hopeful we will welcome back more in the coming days."

Leilani Krause, Treyton Oak’s director of nursing, tested positive for the coronavrus but is excited to see residents and patients again.

“That's the best part is having out of all this illness that you see going around the city and the united states is to have even just a few start recovering then you see that there is a light, that people are going to get better,” Krause said.

The two staff members who returned to work "passed two COVID-19 tests in a 24-hour period and have been cleared by local public health officials," according to the news release. Overall, 14 Treyton Oak employees have tested positive for the coronavirus, and one had to be put on house arrest to help enforce a quarantine.

Four of the residents who were transferred to Norton Hospital Downtown after testing positive for COVID-19 are improving, and Treyton Oak officials said they have been transferred to senior-care facilities "designated by Kentucky public health officials" for the recuperation process. Six of the transferred residents are still being treated at Norton Hospital Downtown, while six residents have died there.

Wideman said a surveyor from the Kentucky Office of Inspector General found Treyton Oak Towers "met all federal and state requirements" with "no regulatory deficiencies" during an examination of the facility and its practices.

On Saturday, Beshear also announced the formation of a state task force aimed at protecting people living and working at Kentucky's long-term care facilities. Sunday afternoon, Beshear reported 386 residents of the state's long-term care facilities have tested positive for COVID-19, and 172 staff members at those facilities have tested positive. Forty-nine long-term care residents have died from the respiratory illness, and one staff member has died.

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