September 17, 2020
Jodi Smith, Executive Director of Marshall Starke Development Center confirmed Wednesday that they are closing for 14 days.
A rumor being floated around the community said Marshall Starke Development that staff had tested positive for COVID in March and now in September but Smith said that was untrue. She said, “We did close in March when the pandemic first started. We closed then in an abundance of caution not because we had any COVID cases and it worked. We had remained COVID free. Another provider has had some positive results and two of their residents attended MSDC both Monday and Tuesday. So, the decision was made, again in an abundance of caution, to close for 14 days, and Thursday eight of our staff were tested to ensure there was no transmission.” Smith continued, “If there was any transmission we want to stop it.”
Jodi Smith closed here statement saying, “I can’t tell you what a great job Marshall Starke Development Center staff, particularly our direct support professionals, have done in keeping our building sanitized and disinfected every day to keep everyone healthy and safe. We feel very lucky that we have been COVID free and we want to stay that way.”