Update from Administrator – March 23, 2021
March 23, 2021
Dear Family Members and Responsible Parties,
At long last – we have new guidance from the CDC on nursing home visitation! This new guidance reflects updates to address the vaccination of residents and individuals from the community, as well as the decrease in community spread and changes to visitation during an “outbreak.”
While the CDC released their new guidance letter, we reviewed their materials, along with guidance that followed from our state’s health leaders and our operator, Athena Health Care Systems to update our existing policies and procedures to accommodate the new guidance.
For details on the CDC guidance, please visit their website: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/infection-control-after-vaccination.html.
Visitation
As before, when an outbreak is detected among residents or staff, all visitations must be suspended except for compassionate care visits and end of life visits until at least one round of facility wide testing is completed.
Our current visitation status is as follows:
Indoor visits are being offered in the main lobby. Please call the recreation department to schedule a time.
Also, we always offer visitations using our technology (iPads, tablets, calls, etc.). We also offer window visits or outside visits weather permitting.
The Compassionate Care Visits and End of Life Visits are offered at any time convenient to the Family. Compassionate Care Visits and End of Life Visits are initiated by the Physician, APRN, Hospice, Nursing Department and/or the Social Services Department.
We continue to take all necessary precautions, including wearing personal protective equipment and conducting regular testing of our staff and residents, to ensure the safety of our residents and staff.
We want to provide some reminders about our visitation policy, based on requirements set by our state’s DPH and the CDC. We do apologize, but the below is to ensure that everyone has the opportunity for visits, under the strict state and federal guidelines we must adhere to. We know this is not the optimal way to visit your loved one, but these guidelines have been put in place with your loved ones’ and our staff’s best interest in mind.
In the event you may not have heard, a “fully vaccinated” individual is defined as a resident, staff member or any individual who has had BOTH of their vaccination doses at least 2 or more weeks ago.
Visitation Reminders:
Please call the Therapeutic Recreation Dept at 203-426-5847 ext. 3131 to set up an appointment. If no one answers, please leave a message and Erin or Frances will return your call.
Residents may have up to 2 visitors at a time, and two visits per week per resident.
Visiting can be up to 30 minutes long.
Please, do not bring food or beverages to the visit, as masks must be worn during the visit.
Come to the building with a mask on that covers your nose and mouth.
When you arrive, please sanitize hands, fill out the COVID exposure questionnaire and sign the document acknowledging that you will follow the visiting guidelines.
The receptionist or a member of our staff will take your temperature.
After signing in, please proceed directly to main lobby for the indoor visit and someone from Recreation will escort you to your table.
Recreation
- Small group activities have resumed.
- When there is a COVID-19 positive resident on a unit, group activities will be paused for residents on the unit. When the unit has gone 14 days without a new COVID-19 positive resident, activities will resume.
- A reminder to everyone that we do have various tablet devices for your loved one to utilize to access games, various communication tools, news and more. Also we have completed training on the devices with our residents so that they may feel more comfortable using the device.
Dining
- Small groups of residents who are fully vaccinated may dine together at a table. Tables will be kept 6 feet apart and dining companions should be consistent across meals and days.