Previously evacuated nursing facility in Riverside reopens to patients

The Magnolia Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Riverside has reopened its doors. This comes a little over three months after more than 80 patients were forced to evacuate it when most of the staff failed to show up.

Shortly after the evacuation, officials confirmed there were 34 known coronavirus cases found among the residents and an additional five cases reported among the staff.

"This is a facility where long-time employees formed bonds with patients for many years," said Dr. Frank Flowers, a medical advisor for the Riverside University Health System. "Back in April, many of those employees tested positive for the coronavirus and did not go to work to protect those people. It was heartbreaking for these workers to not be with their patients."

Some of the patients were taken to facilities in Indio and Palm Desert.

Read: 43 patients evacuated from Riverside facility are now in Palm Desert and Indio

According to Riverside County officials, Magnolia Rehabilitation and Nursing Center worked on its reopening plan with the state and county for several months. This included additional employee training and personal protective equipment.

In addition, county officials say its "Skilled Nursing Facility Outreach and Support" teams visited the facility twice in recent weeks.

The California Department of Public Health reviewed the facility and approved its reopening.

"The reopening of Magnolia Rehabilitation Center will be a big help to ease the burden from our local hospitals," said Vice Chair Karen Spiegel. "Skilled nursing facilities treat patients recently discharged from the hospital and they are a critical part of our surge plans."