Update from Administrator – June 4, 2020
As always, our team and I hope this finds you safe and healthy. Another “thank you” for all the staff’s hard work, dedication, and compassion for all of our residents here. We remain incredibly grateful for our entire dedicated team and ask you to join me in ensuring that they are included as “Health Care Heroes” battling COVID-19. They are doing everything they possibly can to care for those suffering while also implementing preventive measures to minimize the spread of the disease. Everyone is working hard, and their efforts do not go unnoticed.
We continue to offer our weekly conference call for families and FaceTime calls. Please continue to reach out to our recreation team to schedule “visits”. The state was kind enough to supply us with an additional iPad to conduct FaceTime visits. In addition to virtual visits, we have begun to offer perimeter visits for our residents and their families. This will be discussed on your weekly call, but this essentially gives residents the opportunity to visit with their loved ones in person, through a window or outdoor social distancing. These visits will require appropriate PPE (masks) and a distance of 6 feet between residents and visitors. The specific guidelines and details regarding perimeter visits can be found on our website and Facebook page.
Good news… As of today, we have seen 36 of our residents convert to Covid recovered and are now symptom-free of COVID-19. We are very excited for these residents, their families, and our staff. We anticipate this number to continue to rise and we will begin holding recognition ceremonies to celebrate their success. The current numbers for our center are 36 COVID-19 recovered residents, 15 COVID-19 positive residents in house, and 10 COVID-19 positive staff members.
Testing our Residents
We continue to test any resident who shows signs and symptoms of Covid-19, and any resident with close contact to anyone who tested positive to Covid-19. Once tested, residents are appropriately cohorted which may require a room change. Please know that the resident and family member will be notified prior to the room change, but this is a necessary step in the process to protect the residents’ health. Residents who refuse testing will need to be cohorted with individuals of an alike status or COVID-19 unknown for 14 days.
We want to assure you that residents and family members will be informed throughout this process. Regular testing will continue until public health officials feel there is no longer a risk. With this level of testing the state will try to identify areas with the most risk and posing the highest level of concern. They will strategically focus their response to assist nursing homes and appropriately respond to the needs of their residents.
Perimeter Visits
Now that the weather is looking good – you will receive another email soon with information about scheduling perimeter visits with your loved ones. Perimeter visits include both window visits and outdoor social distancing visits. Please remember that the perimeter visits must be pre-scheduled to ensure safe and healthy visits for you, the residents, and our staff. These visits will require appropriate PPE (masks) to be worn at all times and a social distance of 6 feet between you and your loved ones for the entirety of the visit.
Weekly Call
As a reminder. our next “Town Hall” meeting is scheduled for Friday, June 5, 2020 at 1:00PM with more updates. I encourage any residents and family members to contact me with any questions you have about the care we are offering. Our commitment is to be as transparent as possible and work to address any issues that arise. This is an incredibly challenging time and we will continue to do all we can to get through this, together. A reminder that resident-specific questions cannot be answered during these calls or on our Facebook page so please reach out to us directly if needed.
Thank you and please stay safe and healthy! Although the weather outside is becoming warmer and sunnier each day, it is important to remember that it is still necessary to be cautious and aware that the risks of COVID-19 are still present.
Jane DeVries
Administrator