PUEBLO, COLO. (April 20, 2021) – Sharmar Village Senior Care Community (Sharmar) — Pueblo’s family-owned Senior Care Community — has set a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy for all staff. At the time of this public announcement, Sharmar is reported to be the only facility in Pueblo to put such requirements in place.
“At Sharmar, we are dedicated to keeping our residents and staff healthy,” said Keith Jackson, Executive Director for Sharmar. “Our team truly understands the difficulties families are going through and we are here to help keep their loved ones safe and supported during this time.”
In late January, Sharmar announced that it was establishing a condition of employment requiring all current and future staff members receive the COVID-19 vaccine. To best protect residents, staff who decline to comply without a legal qualifying reason will not work any hours for the duration of the declared national emergency. Staff was given until the second scheduled clinic to determine participation in the program.
As a result of the mandatory program, Sharmar reported 100% of staff received vaccinations at the time of the Federally Funded Clinics in mid-February. One month following, in a Weekly Letter to Residents & Family (March 17) Jackson reported that testing continued to return all negative results for the virus, declaring Sharmar an outbreak-free senior care campus.
In addition to the mandatory staff vaccination program, Sharmar recently installed needlepoint bi-polar ionization (NPBI) technology on its campus as a solution to shared air concerns. NPBI technology safely creates and releases ions into the airstream using the existing HVAC system as the delivery method. When these ions disperse throughout a space, they seek out and form bonds with particles in the air through a process called agglomeration. In an independent study backed by a specialty HVAC company, Tayra, NPBIs were placed inside of a room where coronavirus patients had been housed. Within 10 minutes, the ionizers destroyed 99.4 percent of the coronavirus particles in the air and 80 percent of surface-living particles.
For more information on health and safety measures implemented at Sharmar Village, visit www.sharmarvillage.com/sharmar-villages-preventative-measures-for-covid-19.
About Sharmar Village
Sharmar Village is a local and family-owned senior care community situated in the historic Aberdeen area of Pueblo, Colorado. Sharmar Village has been operated by the same private owner, Steve Briscoe, since 1995. The campus has expanded over the years to include independent living and assisted living at The Chateau, and provides memory care and rehabilitation services to offer a full continuum of care services to residents. For more information about Sharmar Village and its services, or to schedule a tour of the grounds, visit www.sharmarvillage.com.
