Heavy COVID-19 outbreak at Northern Montana Care Center

The Hill County Health Department, in a document given to the Havre Daily News said Northern Montana Care Center is in the middle an outbreak of COVID-19 with six of the 12 COVID-19-related deaths in Hill County being residents of the facility.

In an announcement to families of residents sent Thursday, Northern Montana Health Care's Vice-President of Regulatory and Community Services Christen Obresley said the center has seen total of 33 residents test positive with 18 residents in the Special Care Unit.

She said in the message two staff members also have tested positive since her previous message to families of residents.

Obresley said the pandemic has created a tense work environment for staff of the care center, but she praised the efforts of their employees who've been working harder than ever in despite the times.

"COVID-19 has created a stressful situation for our staff as a whole, many of our staff have COVID-19 as well," she said. "The staff that are remaining are working hard and picking up extra shifts. ... We are fortunate to have a good team of people who care about our residents working at NMCC."

She said the center has been receiving support from previous employees which has made things a bit easier.

"Over the past eight years we have had various travelers work in our facility," Obresley said. "We are very fortunate that many of them have returned to the facility on short notice to help out."

Northern Montana Health Care Marketing and Public Relations Coordinator Julianne LaSmith said employees are out due to quarantine orders as well.