Doctor surprised Cornwall’s Heartwood tagged as previous COVID-19 outbreak location

Eastern Ontario Health Unit Medical Officer of Health Dr. Paul Roumeliotis. (Zoom/EOHU via Newswatch Group)

CORNWALL – The region’s medical officer of health is at a loss to explain why a Cornwall long term care home shows up in a provincial list of homes that have had previous outbreaks of novel coronavirus.

Heartwood Long Term Care, a 118-bed facility on Eleventh Street East, shows up in the integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS) as a location where “all active cases of COVID-19 have been resolved in a home that previously had an active outbreak.”

“That’s news to me. I don’t know that, I would have known. We tested Heartwood yesterday (Thursday),” a surprised Roumeliotis told Cornwall Newswatch on Friday.

The doctor believes it may be a data error.

“One of our homes – I’m not sure if it was Heartwood – had a coronavirus outbreak about a month ago, but it wasn’t the COVID. I’m not sure if they’re mixing it up. I’ll look into that Bill. I just checked our outbreaks before I got on the call,” Roumeliotis said during the 4:15 p.m. Friday conference call with reporters.

“I’ve never had a COVID outbreak in Heartwood, not that I know of. I’m surprised.”

The results from the widespread novel coronavirus testing on Thursday at Heartwood Long Term Care are pending. As of Sunday, the health unit has tested eight long term care homes in the region – two have declared outbreaks.