BARBERTON, Ohio — Pat Lyons of Barberton called his wife Kipp Lyons a "front line hero" in the battle against COVID-19.
Tragically, Lyons lost his 59-year-old wife to complications from COVID-19 on April 22. She was an employee at Ohio Living Rockynol in Akron, where she took care of Alzheimer's and dementia patients.
Lyons said his wife repeatedly refused to quit her job, even though coronavirus cases for residents and employees continued to mount at the facility.
The Lyons' family is now urging Ohio Governor Mike DeWine to make COVID-19 testing for all residents and employees at nursing homes standard protocol.
“Kipp was larger than life,” Lyons said
“She always had a kind word for the people she helped."
“You know it’s amazing how she gave them back a little bit of their dignity, after they had to deal with with Alzheimer's or dementia.”
“She was helping those people who couldn’t help themselves, and she wouldn’t have changed it for nothing.”
“I tried and tried and tried, and she was very adamant about not quitting."
"More testing at nursing homes is needed, it's monumental."
Stephanie Porter, the daughter of Kipp Lyons, told News 5 her mother was diagnosed with coronavirus on March 30, and died from the virus on April 22.
Porter agrees with the strong May 11 recommendation from the Trump administration, calling for COVID-19 testing at nursing homes across the nation, within the next two weeks.
She said testing should be added for nursing home employees as well, especially after Summit County Public Health confirmed nearly 70% of its counties 72 COVID-19 deaths, since March 26, are linked to Summit County long-term care facilities.
“I went from having conversations with her, to never speaking to her again in a month," Porter said.
They’re all on the front lines. If testing is done sooner, maybe the outcome would be different.”
“They should be able to be tested for the safety of themselves, their residents, their patients, their families.”
DeWine said Ohio doesn't have the testing capacity to test all Ohio nursing home and assisted living facility residents.
He said the state is in the process of ramping-up testing from more than 7,000 test a day, to more than 22,000 daily in the coming months.
DeWine said he would have his Medicaid Director, Maureen Corcoran, check on the progress of Ohio testing, and issue a report during his May 12 news conference in Columbus.
Kara Hanzie, Executive Director with Ohio Living Rockynol issued the following statement in connection with the death of Kipp Lyons:
“All of us at Ohio Living Rockynol are heartbroken over Kipp’s passing. She was a warm and caring person who always went above and beyond for the residents, and they loved her dearly. We all miss her. We pray for peace and healing for her family during this difficult time.”
