LAKELAND, Fla. — As the COVID-19 death toll at one Lakeland nursing home continues to climb, the son of the first resident at the facility to die due to the disease wants answers about how his father even contracted the virus.

The parent company of Opis Highlands Lake Center in Lakeland reports that the facility has the second-highest number of COVID-19 deaths among its patients in Florida. The death toll at Opis Highlands as of May 14 was at 19, according to the Polk County medical examiner's office.

The first of those residents to die was retired cardiologist Dr. Rudolph Dorsett. Dorsett died on April 3 at the age of 84.

He served the Polk County community through his medical practice for over 30 years. A Parkinson's Disease diagnosis, followed by a stroke in 2017, landed him at Opis Highlands, but until recently, Dorsett's son Ian said he believed his father was in good hands.

“To my knowledge, they were good and kind to him and they were good and kind to me,” Ian Dorsett said. 

But Ian questioned the facility's judgment in late March when his father first exhibited COVID-19 symptoms. It had been a few weeks since he’d seen him due to the nursing home closing its doors to visitors. 

“The nurse was like, 'your father has a cough, a fever and low oxygen,'" Ian explained. "And you know, I’ve been following the news and I was like, 'that sounds like the virus to me.' But you know, I guess she was under the impression that the steps they had taken would make him having the virus not likely."

The elder Dorsett's symptoms did not go away, however. A few days later, he was taken to Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center and immediately tested for COVID-19.

He died a few days later, just hours after learning he tested positive. 

Ian did not get to see his father before he passed away.

“They called me from the hospital about 30-45 minutes before he passed," Ian explained. "They didn’t say he was going to pass and I didn’t know that was what was on the table. But they said, 'you should probably come down now.' By time I got there, he was gone."

Searching for answers

Ian said now he wants to know how his father contracted the virus.

"My experience with the staff there is they’re kind and friendly and decent people," Ian told us. "But I still don’t know how this virus got into the facility and how he got it."

Vi Mateo, the facility’s vice president of marketing, would not discuss with us details of care provided to any of its customers. 

However, according to data posted on the nursing home’s parent company’s website, 68 of Opis Highlands Lake Center residents have tested positive for the virus, along with 15 staff members.

In a statement, Mateo said they are no longer accepting new admissions, limiting readmissions and screening team members:

"We are working closely with the Florida Department of Health to ensure that we are taking all appropriate steps to prevent or reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19 within our Center," the statement read in part. "Further, we are continuing to follow the CDC’s and our own infection control policies and procedures, including restricting visitation, screening team members and essential visitors, discontinuing non-essential communal activities, and utilizing appropriate personal protection equipment."