Update from Administrator – May 5, 2020
Webster Manor welcomes new residents and families into our Website family, and we hope you are all well and staying healthy as we continue to social distance.
As some states begin to ease restrictions on businesses and the general public please note that our center will NOT be included in any category. The visitor restriction placed on us by the state in early March is still in effect for the foreseeable future.
We continue to offer Zoom and Google Duo visits along with window visits for you and your loved ones. These visits are by appointment only and can be made by emailing recreation@webstermanorrhcc.com. With respect to all those interested we kindly ask to keep those visits to 30 minutes in length so that we may accommodate as many requests as possible.
A reminder to everyone regarding residents that are sent out to the hospital or other non-emergency medical appointments: Our clinical staff will do everything they can to care for our residents within Webster Manor unless it is deemed medically necessary by our Medical Director. Appointments that were regularly scheduled and are not considered life-threatening will be canceled and rescheduled at a later date. This is to protect our vulnerable residents and refrain from subjecting them to this invisible virus. However, if a resident should go, due to protocol and guidelines, they would be placed in quarantine for 14 days within our precautions unit. Once the 14 days are complete with no signs or symptoms, they would then be moved back to their long-term care room.
From the beginning of this crisis, we have implemented extensive infection control measures to protect residents. In Massachusetts, patients and staff have tested positive in more than 300 centers. That is more than 80% of all nursing homes! As you know we have had two patients test positive for COVID-19. Our efforts are beginning to show promise and hope as we learned today that our fist COVID-19 case was retested and is now COVID-19 negative! We are happy to celebrate and look forward to a safe discharge in the near future! Currently we now have one resident in house who is positive at this time and we await the results of two new pending COVID-19 tests.
We also continue to do all we can to protect our other residents and remain committed to ensuring the PPE our staff needs are available and remain in compliance with CDC and state guidelines. We continue to follow every lead to secure PPE from existing and new vendors and request equipment from the state. We are satisfied with our supply but are always monitoring it and working to build it up for the long road ahead.
Our state has asked for a commitment from all nursing homes to test ALL our residents and staff, enabling true numbers in identifying COVID-19. This is an enormous undertaking and in development at our facility and has already begun in countless others.
Our testing date is still to be determined and will most likely be carried out by the National Guard as the availability of tests and swabs is challenging. We also have daily communication with the DPH, who plan to make routine visits in the coming weeks and months to review our compliance with PPE, staffing, and infection control practices. We are fortunate that we have not experienced staffing issues due to the commitment our staff has in providing the highest quality of care to their patients, even in the most challenging times.
Thank you and stay safe!