Update from Administrator – May 26, 2020
As always, our team and I hope this finds you safe and healthy.
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. I want to take this opportunity to update you about the outcome of our Point Prevalence Study in which all residents that hadn’t previously tested positive were tested regardless of being symptomatic or asymptomatic. We swabbed a total of 61 residents and 16 residents came back positive indicating that they were asymptomatic carriers within the facility. Thankfully, the remaining 45 residents tested negative. After receiving these results we spent endless hours ensuring everyone was appropriately cohorted in hopes of stopping the spread of this virus.
We currently have 24 positive residents in house but will discuss our numbers in more detail during our weekly call (information below). Last week, the state DPH and members of the National Guard visited our center along with members of the National Guard and found us to be in compliance for PPE, staffing and infection control and prevention issues. 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 46 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 continue holding recognition ceremonies to celebrate their success. Check our Facebook page to see updated pictures of our “graduation” ceremonies. It is truly uplifting for our staff and residents.
Window Visits
Now that the weather is looking good, we expect an increase in the desire to do window visits. Please remember that the window visits must be pre-scheduled to ensure safe and healthy visits for you, the residents, and our staff. We are also very excited to be working on outside visits with your loved one in the near future; provided masks are worn by everyone involved and social distancing takes place. More to come on that soon.
Staff Testing
We appreciate your concern for our staff and we have fielded many questions on social media and through phone calls about testing of our staff. We know there have been many references to testing being available to all staff and that the governor “wants” and “encourages” the testing of all nursing home staff. We have heard that spots are reserved for staff. We strongly support this idea – but as I have mentioned before, the state is still not there yet. We would love to see mass testing of our staff, but we have not been provided with the state’s plan to address this.
We are working with the state and our state association for staff testing. This is not about our finances. This is about access, planning and assuring a process is in place.
The state of Connecticut is reserving only 50 spots per day for nursing home, assisting living, and residential care workers. These spots will be available each day, six days a week (Monday through Saturday), for these workers. Obviously, the demand for testing is expected to exceed the capacity. Our center alone has over 150 full and part-time employees. Below is the information we have received from the state:
“Effort will be made to prioritize requests based on the criteria listed below, recognizing that not every potential test recipient will be able to immediately take advantage of this opportunity. (Healthcare workers and their family members can be directed to the CVS website for CVS testing independent of these reserved spots, too).
Priority will be given to persons with one or more of these symptoms:
- Fever of 100 degrees or higher;
- New cough within last 14 days;
- Shortness of breath
Second priority will be given to person with one or more of the following risk factors:
- Exposure to or contact with someone with COVID-19 in the last 14 days;
- Immunosuppressed;
Healthcare workers may also register through the online system for the general public for assignment to the non-reserved slots. Anyone who does not have an appointment will not be tested. Tests can be scheduled for the same day or up to two days in advance. To register, visit http://www.cvs.com/minuteclinic/covid-19-testing.
Weekly Call
As a reminder, our next “Town Hall” meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 28th at 2:00 pm, and we will discuss more detailed information during this time. We encourage any residents and family members to contact me with any questions you have about the care we are offering. Our commitment is to be as transparent as possible and work to address any issues that arise. This is an incredibly challenging time and we will continue to do all we can to get through this, together. A reminder that resident-specific questions cannot be answered during these calls or on our Facebook page so please reach out to us directly if needed.
Thank you and please stay safe and healthy!
Marisa Jones, LNHA, MBA
Administrator