AMHERST, N.Y. (WKBW) — Saturday night on 7 Eyewitness News at 11, we told you the story of a family trying to say goodbye to their dying 99-year-old mother. Overnight, Margaret McDonald died. Her family did not get a chance to see her one last time. She did not die because of COVID-19.
McDonald was staying at nursing home at the Weinberg Campus in Amherst. A nursing home where a part-time worked did test positive of the virus. They are now in quarantine.
For the past month, all nursing homes across the state have banned visitors, except for very few exceptions. One of those reasons, according to the state, is being “family members of residents in imminent end-of-life situations.”
"I really think that I’ve been wronged. I don't understand why I couldn't have seen her and said goodbye, yesterday. And they took away something I'll never get again, letting her know that we were here,” said Aileen Stewart, McDonald’s Daughter.
The Weinberg Campus released this statement:
“We continue to express our deepest sympathies to family members and have been appreciative of their gracious understanding during this very challenging situation. We’re very sorry that family members did not have the opportunity to visit. We will do whatever we can to work directly with families who might be faced with similar situations. We are committed to following the Federal guidelines that restricts visitors to nursing homes during the widespread outbreak of COVID-19 in our community, with the exception of end of life situations.”
