COVID-19 – Letter From Our Administrator
I would like to take this opportunity to give you all an update on what is happening at Shady Knoll Health Center and what our plans are going forward. I appreciate how challenging it is that we are closed to visitors at this time. Please be assured that we are following all guidelines as directed by Center for Medicare Services, the Connecticut Department of Public Health, the Connecticut Ombudsman’s office, and Athena Health Care Systems. These guidelines are changing very rapidly, but all are meant to minimize the risk to our residents. Your patience is much appreciated.
At this time, all nursing homes in CT are closed to all visitors apart from the families of residents imminently passing away, emergency services, regulatory personnel, and service people for emergency repairs. Access has become much more restrictive since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak. As directed, all communal activities have been halted including dining, group activities, therapy. Activities on an individual basis are on-going, but with care to not cross-contaminate equipment or supplies. Our goal is to keep the coronavirus out of Shady Knoll.
Everyone entering Shady Knoll is completing a health screen including a temperature check. We are re-assessing the assignment of our employees and supplies to reduce the possibility of cross-contamination. We have a stock of personal protective equipment and have increased our emergency food supply to a full week.
To alleviate the strain of not seeing/visiting your family member, we have some suggestions:
Facetime, Skype, and/or Zoom are all available for face-to-face interactions
Weekly conference calls scheduled for 4:00 p.m. every Wednesday
Biweekly email updates from Shady Knoll
Activities – i.e. pen pals, letter writing, etc.
Please contact Samantha Hurley in our Therapeutic Recreation department to take advantage of any of these alternative visiting methods. Sam can be reached at recreation@shadyknollhcc.com or at 203.881.2555.
At this time, we still can accept/send out resident laundry although many families have opted for Shady Knoll to do resident laundry. We will exchange laundry in our lobby vestibule until directed to discontinue this practice.
If you have a particular concern, please contact the social worker (Kate for Willow-3rd floor and Nicole for Magnolia-2nd floor); Diane Azeez, Director of Nursing Services; Jennifer Spigarolo, Infection Preventionist; or me. We are all here to assist you in anyway we can.
More to come…
Deborah S. Torrey, Administrator