Mayor Harry Kim is calling for the removal of Avalon Health Care as the manager of the Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home in Hilo.
“I have no confidence and trust in Avalon,” Kim wrote in a letter to Gov. David Ige today, a copy of which was shared with the Tribune-Herald.
The letter comes after the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs dispatched a team of infection control experts, nurses and other health care professionals to assist with an ongoing COVID-19 outbreak in the facility that has claimed the lives of 24 residents.
In his letter to Ige, Kim called the deaths “tragic, and unacceptable.”
As of Sunday, 70 residents and 32 employees have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
A report from the VA, following a Sept. 11 on-site assessment, noted a number of critical observations regarding the facility’s preparedness and infection control efforts.
“Because of Avalon’s failures, Avalon must be immediately removed from further administration of the veterans home,” Kim wrote.
Kim said a VA “Tiger Team” now in Hilo is capable of managing the veterans home until other arrangements are finalized.
On Sept. 12, Kim said he made the demand to suspend Avalon from further administration at the facility.
Avalon spokeswoman Allison Griffith said in an email today that approximately a week ago, Avalon’s regional vice president for the Hawaii region assumed administrative leadership over the veterans home, and the regional nurse consultant for the Hawaii region assumed clinical control at the facility.
See Tuesday’s edition of the Tribune-Herald for more.