Tri-county nursing home staff are less vaccinated than residents, data shows

Nearly 90% of staff at the Odd Fellows’ and Rebekahs’ Home of Maine on Caron Lane in Auburn are fully vaccinated, the third highest vaccination rate among staff at Maine’s 93 nursing homes, according to the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

AUBURN – Health care workers at six of the 14 nursing homes in Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford counties are vaccinated at a rate higher than the statewide average, data from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services shows, but nursing home residents are still vaccinated at a higher rate than the personnel who work there.

Statewide, as of May 31, 67.1% of all health care personnel at Maine’s 93 nursing homes are fully vaccinated, and staff from six nursing homes in the tri-county area are vaccinated at a rate higher than that: Odd Fellows’ and Rebekahs’ Home of Maine in Auburn 89.8%, Maine Veterans Home in South Paris 86.8%, Pinnacle Health and Rehabilitation in Canton 79.1%, Montello Manor in Lewiston 78.8%, Clover Manor in Auburn 75.2% and St. Mary’s D’Youville Pavillion in Lewiston 69.7%.

There are six unvaccinated staff at the Odd Fellows’ and Rebekahs’ Home of Maine, and the 53 out of 59 staff members who are vaccinated make staff there the third most-vaccinated staff in the state, behind Northern Light Continuing Care Lakewood in Waterville and Heritage Rehabilitation and Living Center in Winthrop.

All residents at the Odd Fellows’ and Rebekahs’ Home of Maine and the Maine Veterans Home in South Paris are fully vaccinated. More than 96% of residents of Montello Manor and Clover Manor are fully vaccinated and 80 to 85% of Pinnacle Health and D’Youville Pavillion residents are vaccinated.

At the eight nursing homes where staff are vaccinated at a rate lower than the statewide average, vaccination rates span from 61% to 41%, including at Russell Park Rehabilitation and Living Center in Lewiston where 41.4% of its 87 staff are fully vaccinated. Three other nursing homes’ staff had a vaccination rate lower than that.

There is no data on staff vaccination rates at four nursing homes: Barron Center in Portland, Courtland Rehabilitation and Living Center in Ellsworth, Pine Point Center in Scarborough and The Gardens in Camden.

Russell Park also had the highest case rate among staff members out of the staff at the 14 nursing homes: 51.7%, or 45 staff members, have had confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. On average, 21.2% of all nursing home staff in the tri-county area tested positive for the disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid.

There is no data on total number of staff at Sandy River Center in Farmington; 61.3% of staff there are fully vaccinated and there have been 21 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among staff.

In raw numbers, Clover Manor has the highest number of staff members with confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 97 of 230, or 42.2% have tested positive for the disease. Edgewood Rehab has the lowest case rate among staff, with just two out of its 63 staff members having tested positive for COVID-19. Fifty-four percent of staff there are fully vaccinated.

Health care worker vaccinations will be updated on the seventh of each month with data as of the last day of the previous month.

Nearly 79% of staff at Montello Manor on Montello Street in Lewiston are fully vaccinated, according to the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal