Committed to Safety of our Residents, Team Members, and Families
Our highest priority is the safety and well-being of our residents, team members, and families. We recognize that while we’ve prohibited visitation over the last six months, our team members are the biggest variable in the lives of our residents. We have prioritized their safety so that we can keep our residents safe. We have done this by working diligently to provide all of the personal protective equipment they need to protect themselves from transmitting any symptoms to our residents.
When our team members enter the facility, they are first asked to sanitize their hands; then there is a station with surgical and/or N-95 masks for them to don. Once they have done that, they are then screened for any symptoms and their temperature is taken. If a team member has experienced any symptoms, or has a temperature greater than 100.4 degrees, they are not permitted to work in accordance with Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Ohio Department of Health (ODH) guidelines.
Since mid-April, we have had the ability to test team members and residents for COVID-19 using a nasal swab. Through our partnership with University of Cincinnati Medical Center, we are able to receive results in 24-48 hours. We use the information to determine if we need to quarantine or isolate our residents, and if we need to keep team members off of work following CDC guidelines.
Since July, our team members have been participating in bi-weekly testing. I’m proud to report that our positivity rate has been about 1%, and in almost all of the cases, the team member has been asymptomatic.
In July, we started visitation, and we’ve adopted a similar process for screening our families and we have spaced people out six feet apart and, in many cases, we’ve used a plexiglass screen to separate people.
We share this with you because we believe that our facilities are some of the safest places for our residents, team members, and families. We are proud of the job we have done managing our residents and team members throughout the first six months of COVID, and we expect to continue making every effort to maintain the highest level of infection control practices.
We invite you to complete the contact us form located on each facility web page if you’re interested in more information.
Thank you.
Chase M. Kohn
Chief Operating Officer
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