Update from Administrator – November 24, 2021

11/24/21

Happy Thanksgiving to all! 

Many have inquired about visits in our center and leaves of absences as we approach the holiday season, beginning this week. With health experts now warning of “waning immunity” and “break-through” cases, and the positivity rate in our areas on the rise, we do ask everyone to continue with caution and vigilance. We are clearly not out of the wood when it comes to COVID We remain concerned that home and visits into the community will increase the potential for exposure to our residents.

That being said, our facility was notified that one of our short-term residents was identified with a community based Covid 19 infection. Community Based means that the resident was infected outside the facility in a community setting prior to admission. Per DPH protocols, we notified State Epidemiology, State and Local Health departments and tested those residents with direct/close contact. This resulted in discovering 6 residents with asymptomatic positive Covid infections. These residents as of today are doing well with little to no symptoms. In an abundance of caution and per DPH guidance, we have cohorted and placed contact isolation precautions on these residents to help mitigate the spread. We also tested all staff (both with direct and indirect exposure) All staff as of today are Negative.

We need to be vigilant about protecting our loved ones and ensure proper social distancing, masking, and infection prevention protocols are followed, even outside our center.

Center Visits

If you would like to visit, please do so, following the guidance and recommendations of the CDC/DPH. While your vaccination is not required for visitation, we continue to strongly encourage vaccination for everyone and booster shots for those now eligible. All visitors are required to complete our COVID screening protocol, including temperature check and our questionnaire, and to wear a mask while in the center. We further ask that you proceed directly to your loved one’s room for your visit and not wander the center, to further reduce any potential exposure.

Community and Home Visits

If you would like to take your loved one home for a visit, we must inform you that any unvaccinated resident leaving, upon return, will be reviewed and may need to be placed on quarantine, per CDC and DPH recommendations.  Family gatherings are generally with unmasked individuals as you are sharing a meal and we do not know who is and is not vaccinated, therefore this guidance is in place. Also, Some residents will not be able to have an outside leave due to medical reasons, please understand if the Doctor/APRN has limited their leaves of absence.  You may contact them directly if you have any questions.

Vaccine and Booster Updates

We Are well into our Booster Clinic. Our Goal is to have all Boosters to those residents that have consented be given the booster by 12/15. 93% of our residents are fully vaccinated and of those approximately 52% have received boosters as of yesterday.

I hope you enjoy this holiday season with your families, and it is healthy and safe for everyone.

Craig Dumont
Administrator