Shelby Twp rehab center agrees to house some Covid-19 patients, worrying families

SHELBY TWP, Mich. (FOX 2) - As Covid-19 continues to overwhelm hospitals, we’ve learned some patients are starting to come to a rehab center in Shelby Township that’s also currently home to senior citizens.

Family and friends with loved ones at the Shelby Health and Rehab Center aren’t too happy with the news. They tell us they feel concerned and scared.

Optalis Healthcare CEO Raj Patel says the center agreed to take up to 24 Covid-19 patients to help out nearby hospitals.

“I'm just actually shocked that the nursing home would do this,” says Lydia Dicesare.

Her father has called the Shelby Health and Rehabilitation Center home for the last five years. Dicesare says he’s loved it. But now she’s worried after learning Covid-19 patients are here too.

“I would be okay with it if they were recovering and if they’re diagnosed [and] they don't have it anymore, I’m fine with that. But for them to bring them in and they still have it and are contagious, I don't think that's right,” Dicesare says.

“We are being very careful to make sure we’re not bringing in anybody in that may be too complicated, complex or risky and pose some risk to our building and staff,” Patel says.

He adds that the patients are in a separate part of the building with their own staff who have personal protective equipment.

Patel wants to reassure families who have loved ones here.

“We will expand every resource, and we currently are, in terms of protective equipment precautions and every preventative measure to make sure they are not at any higher risk because in another part of the building we are taking care of some of the other patients,” Patel says.