A Buffalo man who worked at two nursing homes has died from Covid-19, becoming the region's second known long-term care worker to die from the virus.
Adrienne K. Johnson, 60, worked as a full-time cook at Williamsville Suburban and as a part-time kitchen employee at Terrace View Long Term Care on the Erie County Medical Center campus in Buffalo.
Johnson died Dec. 20, four days after learning that he had tested positive for the virus, according to his sister, who said she believes that he was exposed to Covid-19 through his employment. Terrace View reported his death to the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
“My brother hadn’t been anywhere other than work. He wasn’t around anybody. He wasn’t the type that would allow anybody in his house. He was the type that you’d see driving in the car with his mask on and no one with him,” Kim Johnson said.
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The first nursing home worker to die in the Buffalo area after contracting Covid-19 was Joan M. Neudecker, a licensed practical nurse at the McAuley Residence in the Town of Tonawanda. Before the 60-year-old woman died May 9, she had said she suspected that she contracted the virus while working, according to her family.
For Johnson, the end came swiftly.
“I went over his house on Dec. 18 and put food on his back porch. I spoke to him from my car with the window down. He seemed fine. On Saturday, he texted me and said, ‘Have a blessed day.’ His son found him the next day unresponsive at 5:13 a.m.,” Kim Johnson said. “The first responders got his heart going and rushed him to ECMC.
“They found fluid around his lungs. He had pneumonia. They did everything they could. They kept trying to revive him. They tried about seven times, but he kept coding. At 7:25 a.m., he was pronounced dead.”
Known as a kindhearted man who years ago adopted two boys as a single father, Johnson’s coworkers and others say it is hard to believe he has died.
“It is so weird. We talked about the vaccination. He wasn’t going to get it. I said, ‘Adrienne, you have to get it. You have health issues.’ He never got the chance to get it,” said Mary McCabe, a diet technician at Williamsville Suburban, who worked with him for years at Erie County Medical Center. “This is heartbreaking. He was a super nice guy. It’s just so scary.”
Because he worked at Terrace View and Williamsville Suburban, he was regularly tested for the virus at both facilities, McCabe said. “You’ll never know how he got it. It could be from a worker or anybody. He really didn’t have face to face interaction with residents at Williamsville.”
Kim Johnson said the infection was discovered through a test administered at Terrace View. Her brother, she added, worked full-time day shifts at Williamsville Suburban, followed by a 4-8 p.m. evening shift at Terrace View.
Before working at Terrace View for a private food service contractor, Johnson had worked approximately 20 years in dietary and housekeeping positions at ECMC, his sister said.
In offering condolences, Peter Cutler, a Terrace View spokesman, said, “He was widely admired and known as a very kind individual. We were deeply saddened by his passing. Terrace View is a very close-knit environment and his passing was mourned.”
Johnson was an active member at True Bethel Baptist Church, where he served as an usher and sang in the choir, Kim Johnson said.
“During the pandemic, he had been watching church online.”
Rev. Darius G. Pridgen, pastor of True Bethel and president of the Buffalo Common Council, said Johnson had a calling to help people.
“One of his jobs at church was ushering, and that’s a challenging job. But Adrienne handled his job with such grace, even when people were not graceful. I’d never seen him without a smile on his face,” said Pridgen, who presided over a Dec. 29 funeral service for Johnson. “It is no wonder why he worked in health care. It is very unfortunate for all people who have died as a complication of Covid, especially those people who spent their lives helping other people.”
In addition to his sister, Johnson is survived by his sons, Louis and Albert; another sister, Sonya Hanesworth; and four brothers, Markee, Ricky, David and Antone.
