Illinois assisted living center evacuated

1271127608 16 Illinois assisted living center evacuated

A potential norovirus outbreak March 25 at a Shiloh Illinois assisted-living center sent 33 people to area hospitals for treatment.

Related Links:

St. Clair County Health Dept.

Illinois Department of Public Health

Most of the sickened residents of the Fountains lll Assisted Living Center, at 1201 Hartman Lane, were transported March 25 with a few also taken early March 26 as a precaution.

Illinois health officials tell Globe-Democrat.com that residents are experiencing nausea and vomiting.

Residents reportedly began experiencing the symptoms Thursday night, according to state health officials. The illness is not believed to be life-threatening. Some people have already been treated and released from the hospital. Some have returned to the facility.

Fountains lll is managed by Good Neighbor Care, of Oregon, and Kevin Cline, vice-president of Operations at Good Neighbor, said. This type of virus is common in assisted-living and nursing homes, Cline added.

“The health department and hospitals confirmed it was a noro-type virus and not H1N1 or the flu,” Cline said. “Typically it lasts from 24 to 48 hours and then we go into the preventative steps making sure we get it out of the building.”

Cline said that entailed maintenance and other staff members cleaning every surface and serving food on paper products for the next 72 hours.

The virus spreads easily via human contact and by touching surfaces, Cline said, so people need to make sure to wash hands thoroughly.

The facility is also asking visitors and family members not to visit the center until it is completely cleaned from the building.

“The staff, who are incredible, are making sure they take the universal precautions of using gloves and masks when they‘re cleaning the entire facility, which is basically what we have to do when something like this happens,” he said.

“The staff, they‘re kind of the heroes in this because they know they‘re going in to an area has a virus,” Cline said. “But it‘s a staff that have such big hearts to do this just so they can make sure the residents are cared for.”