VISITATION IS NOW OPEN AT ALL FACILITIES
March 11, 2021
We are very excited to announce that CMS (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services) has changed their guidance to permit visitation in our facility. We cannot wait to see you back in the facility! Although CMS changed the guidance to allow visitation in our facility, they gave us no guidance to accomplish this. We have been working to develop a process that allows for open visitation, while simultaneously adhering to the core principles of infection control in place to protect our residents and staff.
We expect the visitation process to evolve over time as we get accustomed to having visitors back in the facility on a regular basis. We’re asking for your patience as we learn how to have open visitation in a safe and organized manner. In an effort to accommodate all of our residents and families, we are going to start our visitation process with 30-minute blocks of time so that we can work on our screening process and get our feet under us. Over time, we envision a more open process where people can visit longer and ultimately without scheduling time.
In our visitation policy, we have tried to account for every scenario, but I’m positive that we missed one or two. We kindly ask for your patience as our visitation evolves. I invite you to contact the Caring Place facility of your choice with any questions or concerns.
Thank you again for your patience and understanding. We are very excited to put this past year behind us, except to carry forward some of the improved infection control measures we have implemented. Over time visitation will look different. It will be easier for all of us. Above all we want to ensure that our residents, our staff, and you feel safe.
Thank you and Warm Regards.
Chase M. Kohn, COO
Caring Place Healthcare Group
P.S. I’m also excited to share that we are continuing our vaccination process. We had the pharmacy at a number of our communities March 11th to vaccinate new residents and staff. We are committed to maintaining an on-going vaccination program because it provides another layer of protection for everyone!
Update March 12, 2020
This is our updated COVID-19 message. We DO NOT HAVE any known residents with the COVID-19 Virus. Effective today we are revising our protocol in accordance with the revised guidance from the CDC, CMS, and the Ohio Department of Health; as well as comments from President Trump’s address to the nation last evening.
There will be no standard visitation permitted as of today. Visitation will be limited to medically necessary visits, end of life circumstances, and when a clinician determines it is essential for the resident. We will continue to permit ancillary health care professional access to our facility assuming they first complete the screening.
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a memo on March 9, 2020, (QSO20-14-NH) that provides guidance for how facilities are to handle limited visitation.
Limiting: For facilities that are in counties, or counties adjacent to other counties where a COVID-19 case has occurred, we recommend limiting visitation (except in certain situations as indicated above).
If a circumstance meets the exception criteria, the visitor will have to be screened to visit. A visitor will not be permitted into the building if they cannot pass the screening criteria. Those criteria include measures activated at the recommendation of the CDC and CMS. The criteria are the following:
We are taking this action because we believe this is the best way to prevent the spread of this virus to the most vulnerable population. We know asking you to stay away from your loved ones will be very difficult; and we will work with you to offer opportunities to FaceTime, Skype, and additional phone calls.
We invite you to contact our Corporate Compliance Hotline at 1-800-430-6695 if you have any questions. Please leave a voicemail, and a facility representative will get back with you as soon as possible.
Lastly, I want to thank you for your patience during this challenging time; and let you know how much we appreciate the trust you place in us to care for you and your loved ones.
Chase M. Kohn
Chief Operating Officer
Caring Place Healthcare Group