Update from Administrator – May 11, 2020
Hello Everyone,
As some states begin to ease restrictions on businesses and the general public, please note that our center will NOT be included in any category. The visitor restriction placed on us by the state in early March is still in effect for the foreseeable future; we will advise you when this changes. We continue to offer our weekly conference call for families and FaceTime calls, Zoom meetings, and window visits for you and your loved ones.
From the beginning of this crisis, we have implemented extensive infection control measures to protect residents. I have listed those in many past emails, our weekly “Town Hall” conference calls, and this information remains on our website. As always, if you would like any details on them, please let me know.
In Rhode Island patients and staff have tested positive in more than 40 centers. We are doing all we can to treat those who still retest positive and our thoughts are with those patients afflicted with this virus and their loved ones. We can discuss in more detail on our weekly call Tuesday the progress made.
We also continue to do all we can to protect our other residents and remain committed to ensuring the personal protective equipment (PPE) our staff needs and are in compliance with CDC and state guidelines regarding the appropriate use of PPE. We continue to follow every lead to secure PPE from existing and new vendors and request equipment from the state. We are satisfied with our supply but are always monitoring it and working to build it up for the long road ahead.
We are in touch daily with the Department of Public Health and our local Health Department. We continue to follow all CDC and state guidelines and receive regular updates on new guidelines that are offered.
We may be turning the corner on our center’s battle with COVID-19. As of today, we have seen over half 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 begin holding “graduation” or recovery ceremonies, to celebrate their success. We feel this would be helpful to everyone!
I remain incredibly grateful for our dedicated team and ask you to join me in ensuring that they are included as “Health Care Heroes” battling COVID-19. They are doing everything they possibly can to care for those suffering and support them as they battle this disease.
We are fortunate that we have not experienced staffing issues due to the commitment our staff has in providing the highest quality of care to their patients, even in the most challenging times. We have additional COVID-19 compensation to staff in our center and continue to advertise and recruit for additional per diem staff to supplement our teams. We support our talented staff whose commitment to caring for our residents throughout this health crisis inspires us every day.
We have heard from many of you about how you can recognize our staff – like what is happening all around our state with other “Health Care Heroes.” If you want to organize a Parade for our team, make them customized masks, deliver a meal, etc., they would appreciate the recognition as they are a huge part of the health care heroes doing their part in the battle against COVID-19. Many families have written emails or called to tell us how our staff has gone above and beyond during this time. Joyce for example helped a family by purchasing a prepaid service phone for a resident to enable him to speak to his family member.
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.
Thank you and please stay safe and healthy!
Thank you for your Understanding and Support.
Susan LaNinfa