Residents and Family Members,
It has been a tough week for a couple of Chateau residents who have tested positive. The first was 12 days into the incubation period from our previous positive tests when the positive result was received. Three days later, a second resident tested positive. The common link between these two is the desire to not be in their room and they were two doors from each other. Staff have been reminded to reinforce and assist residents back to their rooms so we are able to overcome the outbreak and get everyone back out of their rooms.
Looking at our positives, both Memory Care and Sharmar Care Center remain COVID free. We are testing all residents and staff routinely at Chateau to include Memory care and none of the residents in this area are positive or exhibiting symptoms. We also continue to have negative results for all in the Care Center. Another positive is we continue will all staff negatives despite the increase in positive results in the community.
Going forward, our new testing plan for Chateau is testing on 27 Oct, 2 Nov and 6 Nov. If all are negative, this will meet the 15 day cycle the health department has identified as necessary to resolve our outbreak.
Above I referenced the increased positive results in the community in the last month. The county number of positives continues to grow with the latest report increasing by another 2% to 5.6% of tested individuals being positive. We will initiate weekly COVID surveillance testing in the care center (already testing approximately every 5 days in Chateau). In addition, eye protection is now required at all times by staff. Outbreaks have continued to escalate to include 26 still active in the community with 8 of those being in health facilities/entities. Positives for the month through October 27th are 839 with 265 in the last 4 days. Last week our total was 433. Also, Parkview Hospital has 28 COVID positive patients which is up from 17 last week.
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.
Staff continue with a positive outlook and have continued to arrive for their assigned rotations. We have always experienced challenges in finding and retaining quality staff in Pueblo as the needs simply out pace the supply for health care workers. While the COVID environment and added requirements have added to the daily workload for the staff, they have remained committed to providing quality and compassionate care for our residents.
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
