Update from Bayview -October 1, 2020
October 1, 2020
Dear Resident, Family Member or Responsible Party,
As always, we hope this email finds you safe and healthy. Testing of our staff and residents continues a weekly basis, as required by CMS, CDC and DPH. Thankfully, none of our residents have recently tested positive. Unfortunately, last week, one of our staff members tested positive. What does that mean for Bayview? Once there has been no new onset of COVID-19 cases in the last 14 days and we are not conducting outbreak testing, Bayview will be able to offer indoor visitation!
News and updates on Visitation!
Indoor Visits
As you may have read or seen in the news, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued guidance to states on indoor visits, due to the changing weather. Our latest update from the state Department of Public Health is that we are responsible to develop an indoor visitation plan and policy for our center that is thoughtful, safe, and compliant with the new state guidance.. We plan to have more details to share with you soon. In the meantime, please see some notes below on guidelines that we all must follow to ensure for everyone’s health and safety. We are as excited as you must be to hear this news and look forward to seeing you! 😊
Nursing homes and visitors must adhere to the following conditions:
- According to the state guidance, we must limit the number of visitors per patient at one time and limit the total number of visitors in the center at a time. We will have available a designated visitation area.
- We need to limit the duration of visits to help ensure all patients can receive visitors. Just like our outdoor visits, once we have more experience behind us, we can adjust this, if necessary.
- Cleaning and disinfecting of the designated visitation area will occur by our staff in between visits. This is another factor affecting the amount of time and numbers of visitors we can have in our center.
- Screening for anyone who enters our center – temperature and health screen questionnaire – will take place.
- We cannot allow visitors to move freely throughout our center; visitors will go directly to the designated visitation area.
- Hand hygiene must be followed and personal protection equipment (PPE) must be worn by visitors.
- Social distancing requirements remain as they do for our outside visits.
Indoor, End Stage of Life Care Visits
Should a new case of COVID be identified in the center, all inside visits, except end stage of life, will be temporarily put on hold.
Outside &Compassionate Care Visits
Please know that outside and compassionate care visitations will continue. While the weather is changing, we will work to continue to do outside visits on our patio for as long as possible and window visits are still possible. The weather seems to be holding steady for now.
Remember that we do offer iPads for our residents to use for video visits, phone calls, etc. to ensure that you and your loved ones remain in contact, as best as you can during these very uncertain times.
As always, thank you for your patience and please stay safe and healthy!
~ From all of us at Bayview Health Care