Weekly Update for Friday, March 12, 2020
We hope this e-mail finds you well. Yesterday, we sent an e-mail regarding the CMS (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services) revised version of QSO-20-39-NH-Revised related to nursing home visitation. View the memo.
I would like to clarify some additional information around visitation. While the guidance has been updated to reflect vaccination and how visits can be managed when the facility is in outbreak status (defined by CMS as 1 or more staff or resident cases of COVID-19) or not in outbreak status, Stonehill will continue to request that visits be scheduled through your social worker. The guidance allows more freedom with visitation based on whether a facility is in an outbreak or not.
CMS (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services) defines an outbreak as 1 employee or 1 resident, IDPH (Iowa Department of Public Health) defines an outbreak as 3 or more residents. We understand this may lead to some confusion as we are governed by both CMS and the State of Iowa, through the Department of Inspections and Appeals. As of today, March 12, 2021, we are considered to be in an outbreak status, by CMS definition, due to 1 employee testing positive. In order to move from an outbreak status, 14 days must pass without any new cases. This will be challenging due to the size of our community and number of employees. Please keep in mind we continue to screen employees at each shift, wear PPE and perform good hand hygiene, and many of our staff and residents have been fully vaccinated.
Therefore, the decision is to keep the same procedure, scheduling visits through your social worker, but allowing more visits as long as all surveillance testing indicates no new COVID cases. There is not a limit to the number of visits that may occur in a week, as long as it is kept to one visit per day per resident, no more than 2 visitors at a time.
Visitation guidelines
• Visits must be scheduled through social worker at Stonehill Communities.
• Please use this email address to schedule a visit: shcresidentvisits@stonehilldbq.com. In your email, please include the day of the week, who is visiting, the resident receiving the visit, and whether the visit will occur in the morning or afternoon.
• Each resident may have one visit per day, two people may visit at one time. Visits should be kept to one hour or less to help manage the number of visitors in the building at one time. There is no limit to the amount of visits per week, as long as visits occur on different days and include no more than two visitors.
• Children are allowed to visit, but must be compliant with mask-wearing regardless of age. The child would count as one of the two visitors.
• All visitors must stop at the front desk to be screened, this will include a screening form of questions, and must be symptom free.
• All visitors must wear a surgical mask, which will be available at the front desk. A face shield/goggles are not required, but may be worn if desired.
• Outdoor visits are still preferred by CMS and we will look at outdoor visits as the weather allows.
Additional information on resident visits can be found on our website at: https://www.stonehilldbq.com/visitor-information/
If you have any questions regarding this policy you may contact Peggy Stockel, V.P. of Operations or Matt Jahn, Director of Health Services at 563-557-7180. We thank you for your continued help as navigate the ever-changing COVID-19 pandemic.
Thank you,
Peggy Stockel
V.P. of Operations/Administrator
Current COVID testing numbers at Stonehill Communities Health Center as of 3/12/21
(no changes from last update):
Number of Positive Resident Cases: 0 Positive; 60 Recovered
Number of Positive Employee Cases: 1 Positive; 110 Recovered
Number of Resident Tested w/ COVID-19 symptoms or Surveillance Tested (including pending): 144 (0 Pending)
Number of Employees Tested for COVID-19 for Symptoms or Exposure (Including Pending): 299 (1 Pending)
COVID-19 test results for Stonehill Communities- Assisi Village (Independent and Assisted Living)
Number of Positive Residents at Assisi Village: 0 positive; 3 recovered; 0 pending test results
Number of Positive Employees at Assisi Village: 0 positive; 8 recovered; 0 pending
All previous updates can be read at: https://www.stonehilldbq.com/coronavirus/