CUTLER BAY, FLA. (WSVN) - The owner of an assisted living facility in Cutler Bay said he is determined to do everything he can to help stop the spread of COVID-19, and that includes testing every single resident and staffer.
Jose Duasso, who owns the Cutler Bay Village, said Tuesday that ensuring everyone is tested is a tall order, but it’s the only way he can be sure they’re safe from the virus.
“Because I care. It could be my mom or my dad,” he said. “How else would I act?”
Duasso said his assisted living facilities have followed strict protocol since the pandemic started.
“I’m the one that’s responsible. The buck stops with me,” he said, “and yet there are certain circumstances here that are beyond me.”
For instance, his facilities have limited visitors to only nurses working with residents.
“[Registered nurses and certified nursing assistants] from home health and hospices, we take their temperature,” said Duasso. “Every day they have to sign the same redundant questions, but they’re challenged. As far as vetting them to come in, they have no symptoms whatsoever, they wash their hands in a designated bathroom, they go see their patient at this moment. They come back out, we disinfect the areas that they were in.”
But even with those strict measures, Duasso said residents at assisted living facilities all over the state are still being put at risk because the data shows there are a lot of asymptomatic health care professionals and patients.
Duasso said they even had a scare at Cutler Bay Village in the last two weeks.
“One of these nurses that comes out to the facility was a positive. It was later confirmed that that was not true, but it was enough to make me realize how vulnerable I was as a facility,” he said.
That’s why Duasso reached out to Larkin Community Hospital to test 26 employees and 47 residents. Thankfully, he said, none of the residents at his facilities or employees have tested positive for COVID-19 so far.
He is nevertheless calling on state health officials to offer more widespread testing and contact tracing to keep the most vulnerable people from getting sick.
“Testing has to reach all those that are going house to house, facility to facility as it is right now,” he said. “That’s the only way we can truly guarantee that these facilities will not have a mishap.”
Duasso said the facility should be receiving their test results by Sunday.
Anyone with questions and concerns about the coronavirus can call the Florida Department of Health’s 24-hour hotline at 1-866-779-6121.
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