Update from Administrator – November 13, 2020
November 13, 2020
Dear Resident, Family Member or Responsible Party,
As always, we hope this email finds you safe and healthy. This week we celebrated Veterans Day and we would like to express our gratitude to all Veterans for their service and sacrifice. We have 25 resident Veterans and the recreation department spent the day honoring them. Bayview has also donated 2 very large gift baskets to the Waterford and Niantic VFW’s. They were filled to the brim with coffee, tea and food, personal care supplies, activity books and other items that VFW representatives said our local Veterans were in need of.
We continue testing our staff and residents at regular intervals as required by CMS, CDC and DPH. Thankfully, none of our residents have tested positive. We currently have one staff member who tested positive for the virus the week before last and one staff member tested positive in this last round of weekly testing. The good news is that weekly testing is doing exactly what is intended, keeping our residents COVID free. This unfortunately sets us back 2 more weeks for indoor visits. The regulations are that there can be no positive test results from either residents or staff for two consecutive weeks. When indoor visits do become available, we strongly encourage anyone planning an indoor visit, be tested for the virus prior to the first visit. Although it is not mandatory, be aware that of a good majority of people who test positive for the virus have no symptoms.
Last week, more than 35 nursing homes across the state reported staff and/or new resident cases of COVID-19 in their centers. We are reminding our staff to not only practice safeguards against COVID in our center, but to be vigilant outside of our center and share these practices with their friends and loved ones. PLEASE wear your mask, wash your hands, and watch your distance. These are simple things we must continue to do, not just in our centers, but in our personal lives to keep COVID out!
As the holidays are approaching, some families have historically taken loved ones out for a meal at a restaurant or family gathering. While we understand that you want to spend time with your loved ones, please keep in mind, this year we must take some extra precautions. According to DPH guidelines, if a resident leaves the facility for any reason, a risk assessment must be done and documented in their chart. Due to the uptick of positive cases in our region, all residents (as well as their roommates) who are leaving Bayview for a holiday gathering or any other social event, will have to quarantine for 14 days when they return.
As soon as you are aware of any plans to take one of our residents out, please call Bayview and speak to our Infection Control nurse, Christine Emerson. She will need to get information from you about the plan and discuss the risks involved for your loved ones as well as the risk to every other resident in the building.
We ask that you please consider taking a step back this year and visit your loved one virtually during this holiday season. Even health officials are recommending only people who live in their own “household bubble” should gather together for the holidays this year. Hopefully, when a vaccine is available and distributed, we will once again be able to interact with our loved one’s without the fear of spreading this horrible virus! Until then, thank you for your patience and please stay safe and healthy!
~ From all of us at Bayview Health Care