A daughter of a coronavirus victim is partially blaming a Mount Vernon nursing home for her mother's death.

All four of the coronavirus deaths in Mount Vernon were residents at the Westchester Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing. The facility accounted for a quarter of all the cases in the city as of Friday.

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Makeda Watkins says her mother Mary Stokes died due to complications from coronavirus and she believes the nursing home could have gotten help sooner.

She says she told staff at the Westchester Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing of concerns she had when she first noticed something was wrong with her mother on March 10.

Watkins says those concerns were dismissed.

"I'm just really heartbroken that someone is telling you something is wrong with your loved ones and you're not taking it serious," Watkins says.

She says she asked for her mother to be sent to the hospital where Stokes was tested and confirmed to have the virus.

"When I brought her to the emergency room--that was the last day I saw her so I couldn't hold her hand, touch her face," Watkins says.

She says her and her family tested negative so her mother had to have gotten the virus from someone in the nursing home.

Watkins says when the coronavirus first hit Westchester, staff at the nursing home weren't wearing personal protective equipment (PPE).

"You know these people--their systems are already weak--I think you would be a little more proactive," Watkins says.

One of Stokes' best friends in the nursing home says the center hasn't told residents how many cases they have or the number of deaths.

An administrator for the nursing home denied these allegations to News 12 last week and said they'd do an interview. News 12 is still requesting and waiting on an interview.

 

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