With holiday celebrations and visits upon us, please note the attached guide for visitation safety tips when visiting a care facility. This guide is also available on our website’s COVID-19 page and on our social media pages.
We strive to provide high-quality care and to keep your loved ones safe. Please consider the safety of family, friends and our staff. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released guidelines for safely celebrating this year’s holiday season.
The CDC’s top advice is for eligible Americans to get the COVID-19 vaccine before gathering and traveling for the holidays.
All residents and staff are required to be fully vaccinated unless proof of authorized exemption is provided.
We are continuing to monitor the effects and spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant and will share the latest information as it becomes available. The best way to minimize COVID-19 exposure and keep you and your family safe is to get vaccinated (if you’re eligible). By being vaccinated, you can help better protect those not yet eligible for vaccination, such as young children.
We follow guidance from the CDC, Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services CMS as well as the latest COVID-19 infection control guidance with relation to its impact on our residents and visitors.
Learn about vaccines near you and the CDC’s fact sheet.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health recently released resources for individuals who are vaccine hesitant:
- vaccine outreach toolkit for long-term care facilities,
- education one-pager for SNFs and AL/PC communities,
Learn more about vaccine facts vs. myths with a downloadable PDF, blog and video blog, which are linked from our website’s COVID-19 page. Visitations are monitored and controlled based on the CDC’s county view data tracker.
The following infection control principles and best practices relating to visitation must be followed to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission, regardless of your vaccination status:
- Use the designated entrance to complete the screening process.
- Upon arrival, all visitors must complete the screening process. Visitors who fail the screening will not be permitted to visit.
- Visitors will not be permitted to visit if they:
- Refuse screening;
- Refuse to wear a mask;
- Currently test positive for COVID-19;
- Have COVID-19 test results pending;
- Exhibit symptoms of COVID-19;
- Were recently exposed to COVID-19;
- Currently meet the criteria for quarantine.
- Complete hand hygiene upon arrival and departure (use of alcohol-based hand rub is preferred)
- Wear a face covering or mask (covering mouth and nose) at all times.
- Maintain physical distancing at least 6 feet between people, in accordance with the CDC.
- Limit visitation to resident’s room or designated visitation area. Please maintain physical distancing during the visit.
- We recommend that if your loved one is in quarantine or in isolation that you refrain from in-person visitation and we will assist with contact-free visits and/or virtual visits
Visitors who do not adhere to the infection control requirements during visitation will be requested to leave.
In order to maintain physical distancing, we ask that large family groups visiting break up into smaller units to maintain the 6-foot distance. If we determine, during peak visitation times, that the facility cannot accommodate additional visitors due to physical distancing, we may ask you to wait until current visitors have departed to ensure can ensure the safety, health and wellbeing of your loved one, other residents and staff.
Our Facility’s Resident Impact (since the federal government issued reporting requirements
on May 8, 2020, through December 16, 2021):
| Number of cases | |
| 0 | ADMISSIONS: Residents admitted or readmitted who were previously hospitalized and treated for COVID-19 |
| 0 | CONFIRMED: Residents with new laboratory positive COVID-19 |
| 0 | SUSPECTED: Residents with new suspected COVID-19 |
| 0 | TOTAL DEATHS: Residents who died in the facility or another location |
| 0 | COVID-19 DEATHS: Residents with suspected or laboratory positive COVID-19 who died in the facility or another location. |
As always, we appreciate that you entrust us with the care of your loved ones. If you have any questions, we are always available for you. Thank you again.
Sincerely,
Mia Jacobs, Executive Director
