Update from Administrator – May 26, 2020
As always, our team and I hope this finds you safe and healthy. This week, I would like to first take this opportunity to show respect and honor all those Veterans who have lost their life serving our country. My sincerest thoughts and prayers go out to them and their families. 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 and support them as they battle this disease.
Window/Outdoor Visits
Now that the weather is looking good. We are also very excited to be working on outside visits with your loved one; provided masks are worn by everyone involved and social distancing takes place. Please remember that the window visits, outdoor and facetime visits must be pre-scheduled to ensure safe and healthy visits for you, the residents, and our staff. Please continue to reach out to our recreation team to schedule face time calls, window visits and outdoor Social-Distancing “visits”.
Over the last week we have continued to appropriately cohort our residents according to the CDC guidance. The current numbers for our center are 20 COVID-19 recovered residents, 29 COVID-19 positive inhouse residents, and 12 COVID-19 positive staff members.
As you know from our communications, managing this virus has been devastating to our staff but we are doing all we can to treat them. We continue to follow all CDC and state guidelines and receive regular updates on new guidelines that are offered.
Good news… As of today, we have seen 20 of our residents convert to negative 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. Check our Facebook page to see updated pictures and video of parades and “graduation” ceremonies. It is truly uplifting for our staff and residents.
Testing our Residents
I want to take this opportunity to update you about measures being taken to protect the rights, health, and safety of nursing home residents. We continue to test residents based on signs and symptoms. Once tested, residents are appropriately cohorted which will 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.
Thank you and please stay safe and healthy!
Jane DeVries
Administrator