A Milford rehab facility is suffering from a large-scale coronavirus outbreak, state health officials confirmed Friday. At least one family says they were never warned of a possible cluster before their loved one died of COVID-19.

Spokesman for the Connecticut Department of Public Health Av Harris says that 44 residents at Golden Hill Rehab Pavilion on Bridgeport Avenue tested positive. That's nearly half of the facility's residents. Golden Hill's director says they notified residents' families "timely and as appropriate."

However, the family of 65-year-old Johnny Johnson, who lived in the home while he recovered from a colonoscopy, says they were never warned.

"I'm upset. I'm upset, I want answers. I want to see about how to go about getting these answers from them, because the families should be informed," says Johnson's niece, Keisha Johnson.

Connecticut Public Health Commissioner Renee Coleman-Mitchell says they are working to get more information out to nursing home families.

"It is extremely fluid. It is fast and it's furious in regards to all of us trying to work to address the needs of this most vulnerable population," said Coleman-Mitchell.

The state plans to designate some nursing homes as COVID-19 only and says it will move healthy patients out. 

"DPH has been in contact with the facility staff, administration and owner, and DPH has conducted an onsite visit and verified that residents have been appropriately cohorted," said Harris.

Johnson's family wonders if he would still be alive today if they had more information sooner.
"He never called home, we never received a call from the facility or nowhere…there's no information. We don't know how to get the information," says Keisha Johnson.

In a statement, Golden Hill Rehab Pavilion Executive Director Andrew Wildman said, "We have positive COVID cases and are following all CDC protocols. We were the first in the State to stop all visitors and the first to start taking daily temperatures of our staff. We have plenty of personal protective equipment. We appreciate the Department of Health’s support and that of the community as we continue on the front lines of this battle."

By phone, Wildman added that coronavirus tests didn't come back until Thursday.

The state says seven of Golden Hill's COVID-19 patients are now hospitalized.