July 10, 2020
Dear Residents, Families and Caregivers,
This week brought with it a lot of activity and some long awaited visits with loved ones at the Jewish Home of Eastern Pennsylvania. Please see our Facebook page where we were able to capture some touching and delightful moments from the window visits. These visits brought joy to staff and residents. Thank you to the families for your patience with us as we work through this new type of visitation.
This week also brought the beginning of a revitalized customer service and appreciation program, WE CARE. Training for our leadership team was provided yesterday and front line training begins next week. There is no better time than the present to show our appreciation to all of you. Thank you for all the encouragement and support you have provided JHEP team members and the love and support you provide each and every resident. More to come on the WE CARE initiative.
Window Visits!
Window visits are still on the same schedule per below. We remind families that the last window visit each day is 4:15 p.m., concluding at 4:30 p.m. We are looking at expanding the schedule in the near future.
The visits are 15-minutes per family, and we ask that you limit visits to three visitors at a time. We did hear from family and friends that were not aware of the window visits and want to participate. This is due to our e-mail distribution list only encompassing the primary contact person e-mail that we have on file. If you have family members that want to receive our family communications but are not currently in our data base, we encourage you to e-mail to us the people’s contact that expressed to you the desire to receive JHEP correspondence. Another way you can help spread the message of our happenings to visit our website and Facebook page.
Here’s the schedule for each floor window visits:
Monday – 3rd floor
Tuesday – 5th floor
Wednesday – 2nd floor
Thursday – 4th floor
This is the first step in allowing visits, and as we open up more, we will keep you informed.
And, in the interest of ongoing safety, all visitors must wear masks.
Schedule Your Visit
Families may schedule visits by calling Lee Rutkowski at 570-344-6177 ext. 1175. Lee is on site from Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. If you prefer, you may send an email to lrutkowski@jhep.org.
When scheduling your visit, Lee will ask for a cell phone number so that we may call you to come to the visiting area after it has been sanitized and is ready for your visit.
Please park in the front of the building and stay in your car until called. When out of your car, please remember to practice safe social distancing, and everyone is asked to wear a mask at all times.
If it appears the weather won’t cooperate during your scheduled visit, please call during to check for cancellation or rescheduling. Our staff will call you if your loved one is ill or needs to reschedule.
As we continue to follow the regulations from the PA Department of Health, we will keep you posted on additional opportunities to connect with your loved ones.
Testing
JHEP continues testing in accordance with our plan. Results for the week of July 6th identified one additional staff person who tested positive. Another round of testing was complete on July 7th and July 9th. This round of testing did identify two additional residents. We will have another full round of testing on July 13th and again the week of July 20th until we have no new positive COVID-19 results. As a reminder, JHEP set up an automated toll-free number that is updated daily with any new COVID-19 positives. That number is 570-207-6711.
As stated in last week’s letter, the guidance and directives to nursing facilities is to have 14 consecutive days without any positive COVID results and no new respiratory symptoms before we prepare our reopening plan.
Activities
A dance party is scheduled for next week as part of our “Celebrate the Sunshine, Jewish Home Style” summer activities program. These will not be large-group activities and will take place throughout the week.
Have a safe and blessed week and, as always, call if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Mary Rose Applegate, MBA, RD, NHA
Administrator
