Veterans Home reports first COVID cases

The Montana Veterans Home confirmed its first case of COVID-19 in a resident at the home in Columbia Falls last week, despite stringent protocols in place for the facility.

Two employees also tested positive for the illness and are under quarantine.

The resident is in a private room with a private bath and is isolated from other residents, facility Administrator Joren Underdahl said in a conference call with Jon Ebelt, public information officer with the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services.

The resident is expected to recover and did require hospitalization.

The two employees have been quarantined. One employee had only mild symptoms and the other was asymptomatic, Underdahl noted.

Staff are tested for coronavirus twice a week and screened three times a day. Outside visitors are not allowed and all residents are tested once a week.

All of the other residents who are in the same unit as the infected residents have been tested and they tested negative, Underdahl noted.

The home also recently received a rapid testing machine which gives results in just a few minutes.

“I think we’ve got good infection control practices in place,” Underdahl said. “The practices seem to work as intended.”

But with coronavirus, asymptomatic people can still spread the virus unknowingly, which can make it difficult to completely keep it from spreading.

Underdahl and his staff were commended for their response, Ebelt said.

“We knew we’d have cases,” he said. “They’ve done an amazing job of keeping cases down.”

The home has about 170 full-time equivalent staff working three shifts and 93 residents.