3/25/20: UPDATE: SAINT JOHN XXIII HOME: UPDATES RELATED TO COVID-19.
We continue to “stay the course” and have implemented all of the recommendations by the Department of Health and Center for Disease Control. Daily communication with/from both agencies continues. I’m pleased to report that we have no confirmed and/or presumptive cases of COVID-19 at this time. We are working diligently to assess/reassess every piece of our daily activities to maintain such. I have been amazed daily by the ideas, approach and flexibility of our staff. Our residents and staff continue to work together to make the best of a difficult situation. Those inside our facility are more “family” than EVER before. Operationally, we have implemented a few changes over the past week, which will be outlined below.
VISITATIONS:
Our BAN on visitation remains in effect. Originally, we indicated that we would reassess the visitation policy on 4/1/2020. Given the increase in CONFIRMED cases in Mercer County, we will extend the BAN “until further notice”. At this point, the Visitation Ban is no longer a facility based decision but rather a directive from the Department of Health. End of Life (Emergency visits) remain an option at this time. We are strongly discouraging unnecessary out of facility trips for residents, for the safety of everyone. We ask everyone to rethink entering our facility, even to drop off items. The less traffic flow the better.
COMMUNICATION WITH YOUR LOVED ONE:
Please know that we have your loved ones best interests at heart. We will continue to provide regular updates should conditions change. PLEASE do not hesitate to call to check on your loved one. MANY of our families have started utilizing our Skype or Face Time availability. Feel free to reach out to our Activities Team, they are ready and willing to help with this process.
SOCIALIZATION:
Perhaps the most frustrating issue related to the virus is similar to the challenges you’re all likely facing in your own lives, socialization. We are practicing social distancing, yes, this is a major challenge given our population. As mentioned in the last update, we have ceased group activity opportunities including daily Mass. We are doing our best to keep residents occupied, with some creative thinking. So far, so good!
DINING SERVICES:
The vast majority of residents are now enjoying their meals in their rooms. Social distancing is being followed for those individuals who continue to eat in the dining rooms. We are monitoring meal/fluid intake CLOSELY for each meal.
ISOLATION / MEDICAL SUPPLIES:
By now, I’m sure everyone is aware that there is dire concern related to adequate supplies of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Our supply of PPE is adequate, for now! We are working with our vendors in an effort to maintain “par levels”. This remains a national, state and federal issue and does impact us here.
STAFF:
We continue to monitor all staff for signs/symptoms, illness, temperature and exposure to the virus prior to the start of each shift. Staff members who are ill are staying home, staff who are healthy are coming to work. The medical field is being challenged by this virus. Caring for the caregivers is a must. Please keep our staff in your prayers.
CONFIRMED CASES:
The 10 Step process listed below, approved by the Department of Health & CDC, has been adopted as the Saint John XXIII Home process should a CONFIRMED CASE be identified in-house.
TEN STEP APPROACH (Confirmed Case):
1. BREATH: Take a deep breath and stay calm; do not spread fear or confidential information.
2. ISOLATE: Utilize private rooms when possible
3. PROTECT: Wear PPE (gown, gloves, goggles, masks)
4. CONTAIN: Restrict all residents to their rooms.
5. NOTIFY: Contact regulatory agency / Dept of Health
6. INFORM: Communicate to all staff, residents and family members. (Web, Face Book, Phone) – Confidential information maintained.
7. TRACK: Use the COVID-19 symptom tracker template to track symptomatic residents & staff.
8. SCREEN: Active screening of all residents every 8 hours. Use the Active Screening tool.
9. ASSESS: Assess PPE supply, hand hygiene products and cleaning supplies. Report immediate needs to our healthcare coalition.
10. PLAN: Activate Incident Command Structure.
CONCLUSION:
We will continue to provide updates on Face Book and the Facility website. Please do not hesitate to reach out to speak with your loved one and/or should you have questions. I encourage everyone to utilize our Activity staff to Skype / Face Time if you desire. These technology opportunities are new to many of our residents and the responses have been fantastic. In the meantime, rest assured that our team is doing everything in our control to keep everyone safe and healthy. Your continued thoughts and Prayer is appreciated.
* Kirk Hawthorne Administrator/CEO
============================================================================ 3/19/2020: UPDATE: SAINT JOHN XXIII HOME: UPDATES RELATED TO COVID-19 Responding to the coronavirus, Saint John XXII Home is actively preparing to prevent and contain cases of COVID-19. The health and wellbeing of our residents and the caregiving teams who support them is our top priority. Our team is concerned, we are informed, and we are providing education and resources. This is a fast-changing situation, and we are committed to ensuring residents, their families, our dedicated staff, and our community, are aware of our efforts and the precautions required for COVID-19 prevention and containment. Saint John XXIII Home leadership is in regular communication with local and state public health officials, including the Pennsylvania Department of Health, as well as, with officials at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. These calls, emails, conference calls are occurring daily and often times multiple times daily. The direction from the Dept of Health, CDC and LeadingAge PA has been incredible. We have implemented our emergency preparedness plan, which incorporates situations like we are presently encountering. We currently meet and/or exceed the recommendations made for Nursing Home/Personal Care Homes by the PA Dept of Health (PA-DOH) and Center for Disease Control (CDC). While it is impossible to list all measures that have been taken, below will touch on a few frequently asked questions: VISITATION: We are not permitting resident visitation at this time, unless the visitation is related to imminent End of Life Care. Should a visit of this nature occur, approved visitors would be screened for symptoms, temperature taken and proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) required. STAFF: Our staff, are prepared and educated related to the expectations regarding working vs illness. All Staff, including daily contracted services (therapy/agency) are screened for signs/symptoms and temperature taken before the start of each shift. CONTRACTED SERVICES: We continue to permit contracted medical providers to enter the facility (with proper screening/temp). These include: hospice workers, laboratory services, x-ray and pharmacy, as these are essential services for the well-being of our residents. Non-essential services have been postponed at this time, for example; audiology services, optometry services, barber/beauty, etc. While we understand these services are valuable and enhance resident quality of life, the risk out weights the benefit, at this time. ACTIVITIES / SOCIALIZATION: As you are well aware, we have a fantastic activities program. Unfortunately, with the restricted access we have implemented, we are not permitting outside entertainment that our residents, have grown to thoroughly enjoy. Activities continue, however, we are keeping group events to a maximum of 10 residents and/or utilizing social distancing. Increased frequency of small group activities and 1:1 visitation has been implemented. We are also able to offer: phone calls, Skype and Face Time to permit you to “connect” with your loved one. If you would like to utilize these services, please contact our Activities Department to schedule a time. We anticipate a high volume utilization of this “new approach”. OUTSIDE RESIDENT TRIPS / APPOINTMENTS: The facility has cancelled the scheduled out of facility Activity Events (bus trips). Each resident/family must decide if scheduled appointments outside of the facility will take place. While we STRONGLY DISCOURAGE unnecessary OUT OF FACILITY trips, we can not DEMAND such, at this time. PLEASE for the safety of everyone involved restrict outside trips whenever possible. CLEANING: We have verified that all cleaning supplies in use meet the CDC requirements for cleaning and all products in use are on the CDC approved list. Cleaning cycles have increased in frequency and additional measure taken to keep us safe. NURSING SERVICES: While it is impossible to list all of the measures that have been implemented, I will touch on a few. All residents are being monitored for signs/symptoms and temperature taken, each shift at a minimum. We have reeducated staff related to the proper use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). We have protocols in place to deal with sign/symptoms of COVID-19, should they present. We have protocols in place should we see a presumptive or positive case. Of course, these standards are ever changing and as stated above, we are working closely with the PA Dept of Health and CDC. CARE PLAN / CARE CONFERENCES: We will continue to provide quarterly Care Conference / Care Plan meetings. You will be notified by facility staff, as in the past. However, these meeting will need to take place via conference call. EMERGENCY PHONE: This past weekend, our telephone system “crashed”. The issue has been resolved. We have implemented a new process, should a telephone system failure occur. For years, we have had facility cellphones at the nurses station to call OUT in an emergency situation. These phones are ONLY utilized in a telephone failure situation. The telephone number is: 724-301-1449, should a telephone failure occur and you desire an update on your loved one. PRAYER: These are unprecedented times and we are as prepared as humanly possible based on the information/direction we have received. Our mantra is; “We are taking every measure possible to prevent the virus from entering our doors, but we are operating as though it is already here”. Future updates will be posted on the facility website (under NEWS tab) and follow us on Facebook. I thank everyone for their efforts, patience and prayer. * Kirk Hawthorne Administrator/CEO Saint John XXIII Home 724-981-3200 klhawthorne@stjohn23home.org HELPFUL SITES: www.saintjohnxxiiihome.org (look under NEWS tab) www.health.pa.gov www.cdc.gov