The New Hampshire Veterans Home in Tilton is experiencing one of the deadliest COVID-19 outbreaks in the state. Since December 15, 35 veterans have died there since November 10.
Many more are infected and the personnel exposed are quarantined to prevent further spread of the virus.
To learn more about what it’s like for Veterans Home residents and their families, NHPR’s Peter Biello spoke with Paula Carnes of Dalton. Her father, Paul Tilden, will turn 97 this month. He served in the Army Air Corps during the Second World War. Carnes says her father is reasonably healthy at the moment.
Note: The following transcript has been slightly modified for clarification
How long has it been since you saw your father in person?
I just started video chatting with him this morning so I’m like, ‘Yay!’ The staff there are phenomenal. We do video chat, Facebook, Zoom, whatever is available for the family. So I just did it on Facebook. It’s just easier.
So you haven’t seen him in person since before the pandemic started?
I got to see him through a glass window and so did we for his 50th wedding anniversary, which was in September.
If he celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary, is his wife still alive?
His second wife, yes.
So not your mother.
Yes.
How’s that for her?
It’s very difficult. In fact, she couldn’t reach him recently. And she said, ‘You know those people there better than I do. Help me.’ And I say okay, let me see what daddy does with his phone. Sometimes he doesn’t hear and she’s worried, so she calls me. I have to get everyone straight. That’s what you get as the oldest, right?
Oh, so you’re the oldest, so you’re in charge. Me too, so I know what it’s like.
Yes. [Laughs]
So tell us how the New Hampshire Veterans Home worked with you in an effort to keep in touch with your father?
Oh my goodness they are absolutely wonderful. From when this first started which was on March 16 March when the governor declared a state of emergency … what they did was they would allow us once we got through the initial steps we were allowed to visit by video or you could somehow put it through the glass. We had to do what we had to do to protect them as best we could.
And how has the Veterans Home’s communication been since November 10, when Covid-19 arrived?
They have a program. It’s weekly video and phone updates with families, which is really cool. I can call the nursing station at any time. I can call his social worker anytime, day or night, it doesn’t matter, and someone is there to answer the phones and give the answer I need. For example, recently I couldn’t reach my father and I was worried about him, so I called. It was tonight. Even the nurse called me back. If they are not there, they will call you back in minutes. It was amazing.
And what about your father’s physical situation there? Do you think he is sufficiently isolated to avoid exposure to this virus?
I believe he is. I mean all staff are wearing their personal protective equipment. They have really done a lot. I took my dad on another phone and I know they had to sanitize it and I did even though I didn’t think it was [contaminated], I just sprayed everything with disinfectant when I picked up my dad’s other phone, just to protect myself.
What would you like people to know about how the New Hampshire Veterans Home functions?
That they’ve been phenomenal at keeping everything at bay. I have no fear of my father at all. I know they are doing the very best they can.