Residents and Family Members,
We are moving in the right direction with our testing. All negative results for tests conducted on 9, 12 and 14 Oct with 100% of staff and residents testing. Coordination with the state and local health departments last week provided direction for two more rounds of negative tests to be conducted to declare the outbreak resolved. The directed dates are 19 and 22 Oct. We are awaiting results from the 19th and are prepared for our last round of outbreak testing (positive attitudes abound!) tomorrow. After results are received and the local health department verifies 100% of staff and residents have been tested, we will be declared resolved and we can get back to a less restrictive life.
Positive results in the community continue at a high pace. The county number of positives continues to grow with the latest report increasing by another 1% to 3.7% of tested individuals being positive. Outbreaks have continued to escalate to include 21 still active in the community with 7 of those being in health facilities/entities. Positives for the month through October 20th are 433 up from 230 last week. Also, Parkview Hospital has 17 COVID positive patients which is up from 10 last week.
We have been successful in isolating our memory care unit at Chateau and the Care facility from the disease. Testing was completed in the Care Center to meet our monthly monitoring test requirement and all staff were negative (100% tested). For residents who were out of the facility two weeks prior to the test date for medical appointments, 100% of those who agreed to testing were also negative. No individuals are symptomatic, and we continue with twice daily vitals in all areas of the campus for our residents. In addition, staff have remained delegated to either Chateau or the Care Center and if some reason they are needed at Chateau then we are keeping the staff in the facility and not allowing them to return to the Care Center.
We did identify a staff member and reassign her to Chateau to increase our ability to provide family/resident communications. Lydia is available to Thursday-Monday and our existing activity staff are available for Tuesday and Wednesday to assist with calls. Please coordinate with Lynnea at Chateau or Carlee at Sharmar if you would like to arrange a video chat.
Finally, just to provide an update on personal protective equipment, we have established sufficient supplies prior to the outbreak to carry us through to this point with no issues. Gowns are an item that can be challenging to source for purchase and we are struggling with our primary vendors for gloves, however had discovered some alternative sources that at least for the short term have been able to make up for lost deliveries so gloves are available for use in the same manner we have always utilized. This is one item that if a one-time purchase presents, we do take advantage to reduce the possibility of issues occurring with supplies. No other protective equipment issues are occurring currently.
Please contact the facilities with your questions and I appreciate your patience with our return calls to address your concerns or questions.
Sincerely,
Keith Jackson
Executive Director
