Update from Administrator – November 6, 2020
November 6, 2020
Dear Families,
As always, our team and I hope this email finds you safe and healthy. I apologize for the delay but we will have this week’s meeting tomorrow at 5:00 PM.
We continue testing our staff and residents at regular intervals as required by CMS, CDC and DPH. We continue to remain COVID free for residents as of today, with one employee tested this week with a positive result. Residents were tested on Thursday and all results were negative. As mentioned on our last call we started to admit patients that are Covid -19 positive. They are on a unit behind closed doors and have a separate entrance/exit door.
Last week, more than 35 nursing homes across the state reported staff and/or new resident cases of COVID-19 in their centers. Due to these numbers. CT DPH has ordered weekly testing of all staff to further safeguard against COVID entering our center, effective November 1st. We are reminding our staff to not only practice safeguards against COVID in our center, but to be vigilant outside of our center and share these practices with their friends and loved ones.
PLEASE wear your mask, wash your hands, and watch your distance, These are simple things we must do, not just in our centers, but in our personal lives to keep COVID out!
Due to the increase in the number of COVID cases in the community and communities across the state, we have been accepting COVID-19 positive patients into our center for their post-hospital recovery. Our partner hospitals in the community have begun asking us to take admissions and making referrals to us as well as other nursing homes.
Our center does have the capacity and capability to care for these recovering individuals, including ample PPE. As long as these residents are positive for the virus they will remain in quarantine. We are strongly advocating for the state to re-open the COVID-Recovery Facilities in Meriden and Torrington (and elsewhere) to ease the pressure on all nursing homes. Many nursing homes across the state are also supporting this effort.
Because these individuals would arrive in recovery, their admission to our center will NOT trigger a suspension of visitation plans, either indoor or outdoor, per the state DPH. However, because of a positive staff member this week, visitors are restricted unless it is a compassionate scheduled visit.
Although we are following social distance guidelines, handwashing protocols, hygiene recommendations, and wearing masks in our center – are still STRONGLY enforced.
I want to reiterate that this pandemic is still active, the state of Connecticut is reporting an uptick in new cases of COVID and as we see in the news; some states continue to surge with new cases. This serves as a reminder that we must all remain vigilant in following all guidelines, recommendations, and best practices to stay safe and fight this pandemic.
Some updates
- FLU VACCINE: We STRONGLY encourage that all staff and residents receive an annual Influenza Vaccine. We have received our shipment of vaccine; please consider completing a consent form to ensure your loved one receives their vaccine if you have not done so already. Our goal is 100% participation of staff and residents.
- The Department of Public Health (DPH) also announced that are resuming routine surveys. As always, we will continue to communicate to you when a state or federal agency has conducted a survey here.
- 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.
- Our outdoor social distancing activities programming continues to expand and evolve.
- 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!
Indoor Visits (temporarily on hold as we have COVID + staff)
We have implemented our indoor visitation policy and procedures following to state and federal requirements. Based on that, nursing homes and visitors must adhere to the following conditions:
- We must limit the number of visitors per patient at one time and limit the total number of visitors in the center at a time. This will be based on the amount of physical space we have available for our designated visitation area, which will be our Crestview Dining Room.
- We need to limit the duration of visits to help ensure all patients can receive visitors. Just like our outdoor visits, once we have more experience behind us, we can adjust this, if necessary.
- Cleaning and disinfecting of the designated visitation area will occur by our staff in between visits. This is another factor affecting the amount of time and numbers of visitors we can have in our center.
- Screening for anyone who enters our center – temperature and health screen questionnaire – will take place.
- We cannot allow visitors to move freely throughout our center; visitors will go directly to the designated visitation area, Crestview Dining Room.
- Hand hygiene must be followed and personal protection equipment (PPE) must be worn by visitors.
- Social distancing requirements remain as they do for our outside visits.
- We offer indoor and outdoor supervised social distancing visits 5 times a week.
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.
Outside & “Alternative” Visits
Please know that outside and “alternative” visitations will continue. While the weather is changing, we will work to continue to do outside visits on our patio for as long as possible and window visits are still possible. The weather seems to be holding steady for now.
Remember that we do offer iPads/tablets for our residents to use for video visits, phone calls, etc. to ensure that you and your loved ones remain in contact, as best as you can during these very uncertain times.
Recreation
Attached you will find the November calendar of scheduled activities for our residents. 11.6.20 Recreation Calendar
As a reminder, our next “Town Hall” meeting is scheduled for Tuesday November 10, 2020 at 5:00pm 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.
Thank you,
Janet