Administrator Message: 3/17/21

March 17, 2021

Dear Friends and Families of Valerie Manor,

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! Today our residents and staff are enjoying some house-made Corned Beef and Cabbage….And recreation is doing some fun St Patrick’s day themed crafts and activities!

As mentioned in our last communication, 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.”

When the CDC released their new guidance later on March 10^th, we reviewed their materials, along with guidance that followed the next day 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 more details on the CDC guidance, please visit their website: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/infection-control-after-vaccination.html.

Visitation Reminders / UPDATEs

As before, 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.

Our current visitation status is OPEN. We have Zero (0) COVID positive cases amongst Residents and Staff.

We have always offered visitations using our technology (iPads, tablets, calls, etc.) and weather permitting, window visits, and outside visits. If you do not have an appointment scheduled, please contact us at the main number or through Tracy in our Recreation Department to schedule an appointment for an outdoor visit, window visit or virtual visit.

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. The below guidelines are 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.

To clarify a few of the below points, a “fully vaccinated” individual is defined as your loved one is two weeks post receiving complete series of their vaccination dose(s).

Call our main phone number (reception desk) or contact Tracy in recreation to set up an appointment.
Suggested visiting times are 10am-5pm daily by appointment.
Residents may have up to 2 visitors at a time and suggest 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 remain on at all times.
Come to the building with a mask on that covers your nose and mouth.
When you arrive, please sanitize your hands, fill out the COVID exposure questionnaire and sign the one-time document acknowledging that you will follow the visiting guidelines.
The receptionist will take your temperature.
We suggest you use the designated visiting area as directed when you made your appointment. Please do not stop at the nurses’ station, other offices, etc.

- All visitors and residents must wear a facemask that fully covers their nose and mouth, and it must remain in place throughout the entire visit; you must perform hand hygiene prior to approaching the visiting area.

Please maintain social distancing during the visit. ** Please Note: If your loved one is fully vaccinated, you may have close contact with your loved one, but please continue to practice social distancing with our staff and any others you may encounter.
A staff member will be on hand to answer questions, assist during the visit, and sanitize the area in-between visits.

Recreation

Small group activities have resumed.
When there is a COVID-19 positive resident on a unit, floor or care area, group activities will be paused for residents on the affected unit until the unit has gone 14 days without a new COVID-19 positive resident.
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 on the tablets so that residents are more comfortable with them.

Hair Dresser

Our Hairdresser is back in service as of 3/17/21. Hairdresser follows facility/Staff Guidelines for Care during Covid -19

Up Next… Social Dining

We are in the process of planning the reopen our dining rooms with altered capacities. Once in place, the first steps will be small groups of residents who are fully vaccinated may dine together at a table without social distancing. Tables will be 6 feet apart from one another and dining companions should be consistent across meals and days…More to come!

Thank you and, as always, please stay safe and healthy!

Craig Dumont, LNHA
Administrator