Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1474852.015 - 110995 - Signature Healthcare Of Newburgh

Inspection Information - Office: Indiana Department Of Labor

Investigation Summary

An employee was working as a registered nurse (RN) at a nursing care or skilled nursing facility. She provided direct nursing care to the residents and supervised the day-to-day nursing activities performed by nursing assistants. On April 3, 2020, a resident tested positive for COVID-19. As a result, on April 7, 2020, the employer conducted COVID-19 testing on all residents and employees at the facility. On April 10, 2020, the employee's results were received back from the lab, indicating negative results for COVID-19. On or about April 12, 2020, the employee was hospitalized due to an infection of COVID-19. On April 13, 2020, she provided a doctor's note to her employer stating that she was unable to work due to cellulitis in her finger and that she would be re-evaluated in a week. While off from work, she apparently began not to feel well. It was not known what her symptoms were. On an unspecified date, she went to an emergency room (ER). She was admitted to the hospital, and she tested positive for COVID-19. Also on an unspecified date, she called the facility and told a coworker that she had tested positive for COVID-19. By this time, her employer had not spoken to her in several days. She wasn't answering her phone when her employer called. At 1:17 p.m. on May 1, 2020, she died, at Deaconess Mid-Town Hospital. The local health department called her employer to say that the employee had died due to a stroke secondary to COVID-19. This was an OSHA-covered fatality. The employer did not believe the incident or fatality to be work-related. There was another incident at the same facility a month later.

Keywords: Infectious Disease