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Federal workplace safety regulators fined a Hackensack Meridian Health nursing home over failures to give its nursing staff adequate masks for treating COVID-19 patients during the high-point of the pandemic in March, according to documents released on Thursday.

The violations transpired in March at The Harborage, a 245-bed long-term care facility adjacent to the Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, where at least 25 residents died from the virus.

As part of the citations levied by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration against Hackensack Meridian – one of the state’s largest hospital chains – it will have to pay a $28,070 fine.

OSHA said that on March 23 and 24, the home required workers to wear surgical masks but did not provide them with the more effective N95 masks. And the home did not train workers on how to properly use the masks, nor did they ensure that the masks were a correct fit.

Officials at Hackensack Meridian Health said they plan to dispute OSHA’s allegations and deny that they did anything to put their workers in harm’s way.

“We think the safety standards we put in place during this emergency – yes they were adapted safety standards – but we believe they were absolutely sufficient to keep our team members safe,” Daniel Varga, chief physician executive for Hackensack Meridian Health, said in an interview.

Varga said that the process for ensuring masks were a proper fit was shortened, but ultimately “if they didn’t fit seal they didn’t go in the room and they didn’t care for patients with COVID.”

According to Barbara Rosen, vice president of the Health Professionals and Allied Employees nurse’s union, this was the “first citation of its kind nationwide during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“As a result of this callous conduct by Hackensack Meridian Health, health care workers, including HPAE members, were exposed to the virus, became infected and sickened by the virus,” Rosen said.

HPAE said that two of its members died, both employed at the Palisades Medical Center: Patient care technician Nancy Martell and Alfredo Pabatao, who transported patients between The Harborage and medical center.

“Employers must take appropriate steps to protect the safety and health of their employees during the pandemic,” Kris Hoffman, director of OSHA’s Parsippany office, said in a Friday statement.

“OSHA will continue to field and respond to complaints and take steps needed to address unsafe workplaces, including vigorous enforcement action for all standards that apply to the coronavirus, as warranted.”

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 9:55 a.m. EST on Sept. 14, 2020, to include remarks from OSHA.