Suburban nursing homes, including Bria of Geneva, issued coronavirus-related citations by OSHA

Nov. 14--Two suburban long-term care facilities where hundreds of residents and staff contracted COVID-19 and dozens died have been fined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for coronavirus-related citations, according to the federal agency.

This month, OSHA issued citations to Bria of Geneva nursing home and Meadowbrook Manor in Bolingbrook.

On Nov. 3, OSHA issued citations to Bria for violating two rules related to respirators. One requires workplaces at which employees use respirators to maintain a "written respiratory protection program with worksite specific procedures," and the other requires employers to provide medical evaluations to determine an employee's ability to use a respirator.

The agency issued an initial fine of $13,494 for the citations.

A spokeswoman for Bria Health Services said the facility is appealing the violations.

"Bria is appealing these baseless violations with OSHA and vehemently objects to the assertion that they contributed to COVID-19 outbreaks," spokeswoman Natalie Bauer Luce said. "As evidenced by the current resurgence in COVID-19 in Illinois, outbreaks in nursing homes are directly related to the rate of cases in the community."

She highlighted steps Bria took as the virus spread in the spring, including launching a COVID-19 task force and working to identify and put in place infection prevention protocols. She urged community members to take precautions to protect nursing home residents, such as wearing a mask, maintaining social distancing and washing hands.

Meadowbrook Manor in Bolingbrook was cited on Nov. 5 for three coronavirus-related violations. OSHA alleged the nursing home failed to follow the same two rules as Bria, and failed to follow a third rule requiring employees to be fit-tested before using a respirator with a tight-fitting face piece.

OSHA issued an initial fine of $12,145.

Meadowbrook officials said the notice from OSHA was of a "possible" finding, and they, too, intend to contest the OSHA citation.

Personal protective equipment and N-95 respirators were in use during the timeframe covered by the OSHA filing, and the Bolingbrook facility continues efforts to create a safe environment for employees and residents, the officials said in a statement.

"We do not believe this contributed in any way to the outbreak or management of the virus," the officials said. "The center was in compliance with all local, state and federal guidelines for managing the virus at the time in question and intends to contest the OSHA issuance."

Meadowbrook Manor reported 188 residents and staff contracted COVID-19, and 41 died, state data shows, amounting to the highest number of cases and deaths of any Will County long-term care facility.

The outbreak has been closed, meaning there have been no cases reported within the past 28 days.

At Bria of Geneva, 145 staff and residents contracted the virus, and 30 died. The nursing home had 91 residents the day before the first person tested positive for the virus and about 120 staff, nursing home officials have said.

The outbreak, like Meadowbrook's, is closed. To date, Bria has reported more COVID-19 cases than all but one other, larger, Kane County long-term care facility.

Bria of Geneva has been subject to several lawsuits since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak at the facility. The allegations in many of them have been disputed by Bria officials.

More than two dozen long-term care facilities in Kane County and 19 facilities in Will County continue to report open COVID-19 outbreaks.

sfreishtat@tribpub.com

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