Update from Administrator – June 2, 2020
As always, our team and I hope this finds you safe and healthy. Another “thank you” for all the staff’s hard work, dedication, and compassion for all our residents here. We remain incredibly grateful for our entire dedicated team. Everyone is working hard, and their efforts do not go unnoticed.
We continue to offer our weekly conference call for families and FaceTime calls, and Skype sessions for you and your loved ones. Please continue to reach out to our recreation team to schedule “visits”. In addition to virtual visits, we are offering perimeter visits for our residents and their families. This will be discussed on our weekly call, but this essentially gives residents the opportunity to visit with their loved ones in person, through a window or outdoor social distancing. These visits will require appropriate PPE (masks) and a distance of 6 feet between residents and visitors.
A number of families have asked for more than 1 visit (virtual and/or perimeter) each week. We will schedule up to 2 visits/week starting with the June 7, 2020 schedule on Sign Up Genius. This can be 2 visits of the same type or 1 of each. Someone also questioned the privacy of Sign Up Genius; we suggest you use your initials. Please put the resident’s room number when you sign up. We have some family names we do not recognize and without the resident’s name, the room number will help us identify the appropriate resident.
Over the last week we have continued to appropriately cohort our residents according to the CDC guidance. We completed our point prevalence testing of those residents who have never been tested or have had negative test results in the past. Residents who have already tested positive (even if they are recovered) are not being tested. Once tested, residents will be appropriately cohorted which may require a room change. Please know that the resident and family member will be notified prior to the room change, but this is a necessary step in the process to protect the residents’ health.
We are currently waiting to be contacted regarding the initiation of employee testing for our facility.
The current numbers for our center are 42 COVID-19 recovered residents and 3 in-house COVID-19 positive residents. We expect to be able to return some of the residents transferred from Northbridge Health Center back to Northbridge in the near future.
As a reminder, our next “Town Hall” meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, June 3, 2020 and we will discuss more detailed information during this time. We encourage any residents and family members to contact Kate Sasso-Billings, Nicole Goncalves, or myself 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.
Please stay safe and healthy! Although the weather outside is becoming warmer and sunnier each day, it is important to remember that it is still necessary to be cautious and aware that the risks of COVID-19 are still present.
Deborah S. Torrey Administrator