Update from Administrator – October 14, 2020
Dear Families,
Our team hopes your week is off to a great start! We continue testing our staff and residents at regular intervals and are happy to report that we remain COVID free!
Although we are following social distancing guidelines, handwashing protocols, hygiene recommendations, and wearing masks in our center, we STRONGLY encourage that all staff and residents receive an annual Influenza Vaccine. We have received our shipment of vaccines and are currently in the process of administering them. Please consider completing a consent form to ensure your loved one receives their vaccine. We will continue to administer flu vaccines with a goal of 100% participation of staff and residents.
I want to reiterate that this pandemic is still active and while we remain COVID free, 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
- The Department of Public Health (DPH) also announced that they 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 is now allowed to be dropped off by families for their loved one’s enjoyment and take out delivery has also been authorized. Please coordinate delivery with us.
- We have begun offering hair services and are in the process of opening our Beauty Salon, following strict guidelines.
- 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 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
We have implemented our indoor visitation policy and procedures following the 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 is our Recreation 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 are also asking all visitors to sign a Visitor Responsibility Form upon arrival.
- We cannot allow visitors to move freely throughout our center; visitors will go directly to the designated visitation area and remain there throughout the visit.
- 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 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.
As a reminder, our next “Town Hall” meeting is scheduled for Thursday, October 15th at 1pm (call in number: 888-721-8686; Guest Code: 714256#). We encourage all residents and family members to call in with any questions or concerns you may have. Our commitment is to be as transparent as possible and work to address any issues that arise.
As always, thank you for your patience and please stay safe and healthy!
Marisa Jones LNHA, MBA
Administrator