Update from Administrator – April 23, 2021
April 23, 2020
Dear Families,
Here we are, another week closer to warmer, spring-like weather. Great news for us all to get back outside and enjoy the fresh air and some sunshine. As we have mentioned before in these updates, our outside visits remain the recommended means of visitation for nursing home residents and families, per the CDC. Please take advantage of the weather and schedule a visitation with us over the next week. We all know how important visitations are to our loved ones.
Visitation
- No significant changes to our center or our visitation plans, which are based on our state’s guidance from the CDC and CMS recommendations.
- We continue to explore ways to increase our visitation calendar, especially for outside visitations.
- A reminder, even outside visitations still require a mask, currently. The CDC and state continue to update their guidance for nursing homes – and we’ll keep you up to date on any changes. If you are unfamiliar with our protocols, please ask us.
- Outdoor visitation is not affected by an internal outbreak on a unit, while we await the results of the initial round of testing.
- When an outbreak is detected among residents or staff, all visitations must be suspended except for compassionate care visits, until at least one round of facility-wide testing is completed.
Recreation / Activities:
- We are delighted to once again safely begin holding small, socially distanced group activities.
- Outdoor activities are always encouraged and preferred by the CDC and CMS, however indoor events are once again taking place following the outbreak guidance.
- These events will safely welcome back in our volunteers and vendors including entertainment, clergy, artists, and instructors.
- A reminder to everyone that we do have various tablet devices for your loved one to utilize to access games, various communication tools, games, news, and more. We have done some tutoring and training of the tablets so that residents are more comfortable with them. The feedback from residents on the availability of the tablets has been fantastic!
Dining:
- In addition we are once again welcoming our Residents back into a communal dining atmosphere following all guidance from the CDC and CMS. This means our Dining Rooms are again open for meals, allowing for additional opportunities for socialization among our residents.
- A reminder on bringing food to the center for your loved one. Please keep in mind any dietary restrictions for your loved one and understand that per the CDC and states guidelines, you and your loved one may not eat during a visit, due to mask requirements. However, we will ensure that your loved one enjoys the meal, treat, etc. once the visit is complete.
Vaccination Update
- As we have said before, although not mandatory, we continue to encourage any employee who has not been vaccinated to obtain one. We are also working with our state to do “catch-up” clinics to assist our team and new residents in obtaining the vaccine right here in our center.
- Regional hospitals are working on plans to offer the first dose of a COVID vaccine to their patients being discharged to nursing homes.
Updates:
Nancy Berube who was our DNS is no longer here. She needed to spend some time with family and will pursue other opportunities. We wish her all the best! She had a wonderful fun filled last day with us with a lovely reception including flowers, food and gifts!!
Please welcome Lily Jaglall who is our new DNS and she started on April 14th,
Miscellaneous:
- Our barber and beauty salon is open for appointments
Indoor, End Stage of Life Care Visits
Should a new case of COVID be identified in the center, all inside visits, except end stage of life, will be temporarily put on hold.
All non-essential indoor compassionate visits will be affected as well, for anyone who is not true immediate end of life, or if the resident has undergone a significant change of conditions
Some updates
- Food can be dropped off by families for their loved one’s enjoyment and take out delivery has also been authorized. Please coordinate delivery with us.
- Each nursing unit has tablets assigned for resident use such as virtual visits, games, etc. and many of our residents are enjoying learning how to use this technology and having the world at their fingertips.
- Every weekday, I and my administrative team round on a different nursing unit and meet with our residents to let them know we’re here for them and give them an opportunity to voice any questions or concerns they may have directly to us. We also use this time during rounds to assess our residents, our environment, and ask our residents specific questions such as satisfaction with meals, preferences, activities being provided, interaction and response from staff, proper operation of all equipment in room and more.
As a reminder, our next “Town Hall” meeting is scheduled for today and Tuesday April 27, 2021 at 4:00pm and we will discuss more detailed information during this time. We encourage any residents and family members to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have about the care we are offering. Our commitment is to be as transparent as possible and work to address any issues that arise.
Once again, thank you for your time and understanding.
Please stay safe and healthy!
Best,
Janet Shahen