COVID-19 Update From Administrator – March 31, 2020
Hello to All,
As we look ahead I wanted to share a few updates and plans at the facility and from Athena.
In the works!
While physicians are obviously an essential part of your loved one’s care; we are planning ahead and have new contracts to provide for additional physician coverage using Tele-Medicine services. This service will be available to your loved one, should their physician be unable to visit our center. Our team will be able to utilize the services of a tele-health provider for the same issues your personal physician would address.
Care packages & Treats!
We have some new guidelines that we have received; we can no longer accept dropped off food and Care packages for residents. Please use the U.S. Postal Service to send care packages to your family members. We encourage you to allow our laundry department to wash your loved one’s clothing in house; if that is not possible, we can work out a drop off schedule with you. We understand this will be disruptive to some, however a temporary inconvenience is a safer bet than exposing the population to COVID-19.
Nursing Home Testing!
The Commonwealth is implementing a pilot project that allows for safe, on-site testing of symptomatic residents of nursing and rest homes with a quick turnaround. The pilot will operate under the direction of the Massachusetts National Guard in partnership with the Department of Public Health and Broad Institute of Cambridge, and samples will be collected by trained personnel from the Massachusetts National Guard.
PPE Donations!
As seen on the news or heard on the radio, PPE shortage is no joke. The facility and Athena is making every best effort to order a stockpile of supplies. We have appreciated your social media and emotional support over the past few days – and now we need your support through donations of Personal Protective Equipment – specifically, GOWNS and MASKS at this time. If you know of anyone who has access, please let us know or have them contact us.
Activities!
With the visitor restrictions in place, we, just like you, are practicing social distancing, as best we can. The hard working team offers smaller group functions, traveling music, one to one and the now GROWING window visits and video chats. We are up and running with our alternative visits and are doing our very best to meet the needs of families as we keep this restriction in place and we Thank You for your Patience. With your written permission, we will post more pictures of your loved one on our Facebook page. If you DO NOT consent to this we can happily send you pictures directly to your phone or email.
Lastly, in future emails… What would you like to see each week? What other topics do you want to hear about?
Take care and Stay Safe!
Kind Regards,
Corey Beaudette, NHA